"I always suspected life was but a dream, now I'm convinced."
I was born April 3rd, nineteen hundred and sixty, on the high desert plains of Lubbock, Texas. Adopted at birth, I was raised by an incredible pair of individuals. My father, a true engineer (hence the song), was stern and methodical, while my mother was VERY southern and jovial.
My family moved around the country quite a bit, which makes playing in a band a little easier (you would think with all the travel, I was groomed for this position).
My childhood and teenage years were spent growing up in Houston and Fullerton, California. Little league baseball was the name of the game. My father coached my very first team. And after the games, mom would open the trunk and bust out the popsicles, always on cue.
This is also where the music came in. I remember, to this day, jumping up and down on our couch in Houston, singing the Beatles 'She Loves You, Yeah Yeah Yeah'. Oh, but then came California. We moved there in 1968, summer of love, I was 8 and primed to be a musical sponge. Naturally, your friends had older brothers and sisters, who bought records{vinyl.the good ol days}. Lots of Cream, Jimi Hendrix, CCR, The Doors(one of my favs back then), you get the picture. All this time I'm being taught classical piano from a Hungarian lady who had escaped from Nazi Germany in WWII. What a trip!
As you can tell, music of any kind was not lacking in the Griffith household. If Hee Haw was not on TV, then the Grand Ole Opry was on the stereo. Mom was big on Elvis and Rudy Vallee. My little sister, Tina, took piano with me, but dropped out to become an amazing artist.
Well, on my way to New Orleans, we moved to a small boro outside of New York City, named Cranford, New Jersey. Here is where it gets rootsy. All these kids up north were into this bluegrass thing, so trying to fit in, I picked the Banjo as instrument du jour. It wasn't long after that, I was listening to the likes of New Riders of the Purple Sage, Flying Burrito Brothers, Jerry Garcia (BTW, did you know he plays the pedal steel on 'Teach your Children Well' by CSNY, check it out). At the same time, I'm learning Benny and the Jets and Piano Man, trying to break and rebel against the classics.
That all changed the day my father brought home an associate for dinner. His name was, get this, Glenn Miller, I'll never forget the day and the man. He sat down at the piano with me and showed me all the secrets to bluesy barrelhouse piano. I can honestly pinpoint that moment as a pivotal point of my musical development. I wish Mr. Miller could see me now.
It wasn't long after becoming a die hard Yankees fan that my Dad came home one day and said we're moving to New Orleans. Naturally, I said, 'what the.!'. Anyway, it seemed right once I figured it out. New Orleans was what I had been groomed to be, a melting pot of sounds, rhythyms, grooves, and attitudes. I formed a band there not too long into my college days at LSU and UNO with some neighborhood buddies. The band was aptly named Red Rockers, for our political rantings.
The band met with great success with an MTV hit named 'CHINA'. We toured with huge bands, Men At Work, Joan Jett, The Go Gos, The Clash, B-52s and my fav, U2. Of course, nothing lasts forever, and I found myself back in New Orleans.
As a founder of Cowboy Mouth, we tour constantly and consistantly. Come say hello on the road. PEACE.
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ATTENTION
About two years ago, John Thomas Griffith was bestowed the honor of joining some great Texas guitarists, such as Eric Johnson, Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top), and Johnny Winter, in Buddy Magazine's Texas Guitar Hall of Fame.
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