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If art imitates life, then these song lyrics by Griffin House might mirror his path. “It can be a real long road … So when the time is right, don’t hold back” (“When the Time Is Right”). A successful guitar player, Griffin has been a songwriter and musician for twenty-three years. House plays 60–70 shows a year. He has opened for well-known bands such as John Mellencamp, The Cranberries, Jewel, Patti Scialfa (Bruce Springsteen’s wife), Mat Kearney, Josh Ritter and Over the Rhine, to name a few. So how does an artist whose career began with busking and who now has thirteen albums to his name wind up in a town like Darien? Answer: to be near family and join an award-winning school system. If his soothing voice is not already synced into your playlists, you might want to download Griffin House’s works for background music while you read on.
From Nashville to Darien
Being open to life’s opportunities is possibly one reason for Griffin’s successes. Seeking change and adventure, he and his wife Jane left Nashville in 2020 and moved into his father-in-law’s cabin. Jane clarifies that the main impetus was to prevent the cabin from being torn down. Historically, log cabins represent a pioneering spirit and resilience, a quality this family embodies. The couple was introduced by Jane’s cousin Gayle in San Francisco years ago. They married a few months following their meeting. Griffin cites that “the day we got married and drove around San Francisco and took photos and went to Nick’s Cove in Tamales Bay and drove back across the U.S. in her Jeep, back to Nashville to live is one of their favorite memories, the days when we first met.” Like so many parents, he adds that his biggest blessing and joys are the gift of Emma (14) and Clara (12). The family adores their dog Hershey, a mini Australian Labordoodle, which Griffin quips aligns with modern pronoun references, her/she.
Artist by chance
Musically, Griffin also “kind of just fell into being an artist. One thing led to another. I loved music my whole life, and I learned to sing in high school after trying out for some theatre and landing a singing role.” He turned down a scholarship to play golf, his number one skill, before music struck a chord in Griffin. Surprisingly, he did not pick up a guitar until he attended Miami University. While pursuing a creative writing major there, a poetry professor encouraged him to give music a chance after Griffin played a song on guitar for that class. He moved to Nashville post-college where he was quickly discovered. “I was working a job at a souvenir store in downtown Nashville, the phone rang and it was a major record label in NYC. I started talking to them and then it just kind of snowballed from there. I got signed to a label and management company and booking agent.” Griffin relays that he felt like Eddie in Tom Petty’s “Into the Great Wide Open” but I would interject without the rise of success and visible failures – just success. Whether he is flying around the country to Boulder, Colorado or more locally The Bayou in Mount Vernon, New York, Griffin appreciates “roaming around this beautiful country of ours visiting friends and all the cool cities and towns – seeing our national parks and playing [his] songs for great crowds.” The feelings appear mutual. On his Facebook page, fans inquire when he will return to play and give shout outs to Emma for their Christmas concerts, where dad and daughter share their incredible modesty and Emma’s pitch-perfect voice with others. To date, they have streamed live from Facebook and ventured off to venues like Springfield, Ohio to perform their traditional Hometown Holiday Concert.
Family move
Griffin’s mantra to choose love and practice kindness is evident in his family life here in 06820; he says that he loves living here. He has made many friends and treasures their little cabin in the woods, a “friendly place” for trick or treaters to frequent. He continues, “Moving to Darien has felt like a really good move for our family; the folks at Talmadge Hill Church are great, and lots of our kids’ friends’ parents are really wonderful people. I have a close knit group of friends that I have made in the local recovery community in Darien.” Jane co-leads writing groups in Nashville and Darien, works as a somatic therapist, and shows up for family. You might catch their daughter Clara on the basketball courts, as a talented travel basketball player who also plays for the AAU. In addition to writing and singing some of her songs with her dad, Emma is involved in theatre and has become a very accomplished piano player. As members of Talmadge Hill Church, they share their musical talents and Griffin is attentive to those in our community who seek support for recovery. When not on the road, you might see Griffin on a golf course decompressing and hopefully practicing a “Surrender to Win” attitude, one of his more recent song titles!
Inspiring minds want to know
Asked where his inspiration comes from, Griffin reports that he writes about what occurs in his life and mind. “So as life changes and I get older I just keep writing about all the changes happening and whatever I happen to be experiencing in the moment. I tend to write a lot about family, and about searching for meaning, and God. Of course there is love and all its iterations and mysteries but I haven’t written a breakup song in a while since I’ve been married seventeen years almost.” Luckily for Darien, the House family has settled here. To paraphrase one of Griffin’s songs, from “Where [We] Sit, You Are One of a Kind.”
If you would like to read or learn more about Griffin House, please visit griffinhousemusic.com or Griffin House on social media.