Kevin Griffin
Encyclopedia
Kevin Griffin is an American guitarist
, vocalist, producer
, and songwriter
.
Griffin formed the alternative rock
band Better Than Ezra
in 1988. The band had great success in the 1990s with hits such as "Good
", "In the Blood
", and "Desperately Wanting", and has continued in the 2000s with hits such as "Extra Ordinary", "A Lifetime", and "Juicy". They continue to tour and produce new recordings, the most recent of which was Paper Empire
, released in 2009. As a singer and performer, Griffin is known for singing in falsetto
, inviting audience members onstage to play guitar, and interrupting his own songs with verses of well-known rock songs. He is a skilled mimic, imitating singers from Aaron Neville to Bruce Springsteen.
. Later, Griffin received a bachelor's degree
in English
and a minor in political science
from Louisiana State University
in 1990. There he became a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He took the LSAT with the intention of pursuing a law degree
and working in entertainment law
. Griffin took a job with Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles
during the early 1990s, before Better Than Ezra achieved commercial success.
Griffin and his family largely resided in the Uptown
neighborhood of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina
devastated the city in 2005.
Griffin purchased a home in the Silver Lake
neighborhood of Los Angeles
in July 2006, but recently put it on the market after a planned move to Nashville in order to be closer to a more prosperous songwriting market.
, David Cook
, Train
, Howie Day
, Missy Higgins
, Daniel Powter
, Augustana
, Debbie Harry
, and Josh Radin. Griffin is credited with having co-written "Stuck Like Glue," the number two single from the 2010 Sugarland album, "Incredible Machine", as well as their subsequent single "Tonight". He also co-wrote and co-produced James Blunt's "I'll Be Your Man" from his recent Some Kind of Trouble
album. Griffin co-wrote the Top 40 hit "Collide" with Howie Day. He also co-wrote four tracks on Missy Higgins
' debut album, The Sound of White
, which included the hit "Scar
" The album went ten times platinum in Australia. Griffin also co-wrote Tristan Prettyman
's single "Madly," and "Avalanche" on the self-titled, major-label debut of American Idol
winner David Cook
. Better Than Ezra released their 7th studio album, Paper Empire
in May 2009. Kevin co-produced the Album with Producer Warren Huart
.
Guitarist
A guitarist is a musician who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselves on the guitar while singing.- Versatility :The guitarist controls an extremely...
, vocalist, producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
.
Griffin formed the alternative rock
Alternative rock
Alternative rock is a genre of rock music and a term used to describe a diverse musical movement that emerged from the independent music underground of the 1980s and became widely popular by the 1990s...
band Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra
Better Than Ezra is an American alternative rock trio based in New Orleans, Louisiana.-Formation and early success:Better Than Ezra was formed in 1988 by its four original members - vocalist and guitarist Kevin Griffin; Joel Rundell, the lead guitarist; bassist Tom Drummond; and drummer, Cary...
in 1988. The band had great success in the 1990s with hits such as "Good
Good (song)
"Good" is a 1995 song by Better Than Ezra, released as the first single from their major-label debut album, Deluxe. The song would prove to be one of the biggest alternative rock songs of the year...
", "In the Blood
In the Blood (song)
"In the Blood" is a song by Better Than Ezra, released in 1995 as the second radio single from the band's major-label debut album Deluxe. The song peaked at number four on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart, and reached number six on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song was not eligible to...
", and "Desperately Wanting", and has continued in the 2000s with hits such as "Extra Ordinary", "A Lifetime", and "Juicy". They continue to tour and produce new recordings, the most recent of which was Paper Empire
Paper Empire
Paper Empire is the seventh studio album by the New Orleans-based rock trio Better Than Ezra. It was released on May 12, 2009 by Red Distribution. It is the first album to feature new drummer Michael Jerome following the departure of former drummer Travis McNabb in February 2009 after 13 years...
, released in 2009. As a singer and performer, Griffin is known for singing in falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
, inviting audience members onstage to play guitar, and interrupting his own songs with verses of well-known rock songs. He is a skilled mimic, imitating singers from Aaron Neville to Bruce Springsteen.
Personal life
Kevin Griffin grew up and attended high-school in Monroe, LouisianaMonroe, Louisiana
Monroe is a city in and the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Louisiana, United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 53,107, making it the eighth largest city in Louisiana. A July 1, 2007, United States Census Bureau estimate placed the population at 51,208, but 51,636...
. Later, Griffin received a bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in English
English studies
English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language , English linguistics English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U.K., U.S.,...
and a minor in political science
Political science
Political Science is a social science discipline concerned with the study of the state, government and politics. Aristotle defined it as the study of the state. It deals extensively with the theory and practice of politics, and the analysis of political systems and political behavior...
from Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University
Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College, most often referred to as Louisiana State University, or LSU, is a public coeducational university located in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. The University was founded in 1853 in what is now known as Pineville, Louisiana, under the name...
in 1990. There he became a member of the Kappa Sigma Fraternity. He took the LSAT with the intention of pursuing a law degree
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
and working in entertainment law
Entertainment law
Entertainment law or media law is a term for a mix of more traditional categories of law with a focus on providing legal services to the entertainment industry. The principal areas of Entertainment Law overlap substantially with the well-known and conventional field of intellectual property law...
. Griffin took a job with Creative Artists Agency in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
during the early 1990s, before Better Than Ezra achieved commercial success.
Griffin and his family largely resided in the Uptown
Uptown New Orleans
Uptown is a section of New Orleans, Louisiana on the East Bank of the Mississippi River encompassing a number of neighborhoods between the French Quarter and the Jefferson Parish line. It remains an area of mixed residential and small commercial properties, with a wealth of 19th century architecture...
neighborhood of New Orleans until Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
devastated the city in 2005.
Griffin purchased a home in the Silver Lake
Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California
Silver Lake is a hilly neighborhood in the city of Los Angeles, California east of Hollywood and northwest of Downtown Los Angeles. Silver Lake is inhabited by a wide variety of ethnic and socioeconomic groups, but it is best known as an eclectic gathering of hipsters and the creative class.The...
neighborhood of Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
in July 2006, but recently put it on the market after a planned move to Nashville in order to be closer to a more prosperous songwriting market.
Songwriter
Griffin has also produced, written, and co-written songs for other artists, such as Sugarland, James BluntJames Blunt
James Hillier Blount , better known by his stage name James Blunt, is an English singer-songwriter and musician, and former army officer, whose debut album, Back to Bedlam and single releases, including "You're Beautiful" and "Goodbye My Lover", brought him to fame in 2005...
, David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
, Train
Train (band)
Train is an American pop rock band from San Francisco, California, formed in 1994. The band currently comprises a core trio of Patrick Monahan , Jimmy Stafford and Scott Underwood ....
, Howie Day
Howie Day
Howard Kern "Howie" Day is an American singer-songwriter. Beginning his career as a solo artist in the late 1990s, Day became known for his extensive touring and in-concert use of samplers and effects pedals in order to accompany himself...
, Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins
Melissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
, Daniel Powter
Daniel Powter
Daniel Richard Powter is a Canadian recording artist. He is known for his hit "Bad Day", which spent five weeks atop the Billboard Hot 100. Powter became the only act to register the #1 hit of the year but chart no other Hot 100 hit.- Life and career :Powter grew up in Vernon, in the...
, Augustana
Augustana (band)
Augustana is an American rock band from San Diego, California who are signed to the Epic Records record label. They are best known for their singles, "Boston" and "Sweet and Low."-Beginning years:...
, Debbie Harry
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann "Debbie" Harry is an American singer-songwriter and actress, best known for being the lead singer of the punk rock and new wave band Blondie. She has also had success as a solo artist, and in the mid-1990s she performed and recorded as part of The Jazz Passengers...
, and Josh Radin. Griffin is credited with having co-written "Stuck Like Glue," the number two single from the 2010 Sugarland album, "Incredible Machine", as well as their subsequent single "Tonight". He also co-wrote and co-produced James Blunt's "I'll Be Your Man" from his recent Some Kind of Trouble
Some Kind of Trouble
Some Kind of Trouble is the third studio album from British singer-songwriter James Blunt. The album was released on 8 November 2010. On December 6, 2011, a deluxe version of the album will be released, entitled Some Kind Of Trouble: Revisted....
album. Griffin co-wrote the Top 40 hit "Collide" with Howie Day. He also co-wrote four tracks on Missy Higgins
Missy Higgins
Melissa "Missy" Morrison Higgins is an Australian pop singer-songwriter, musician and actor. Her No. 1 albums in Australia are The Sound of White and On a Clear Night , and her Top Ten singles are "Scar", "The Special Two", "Steer" and "Where I Stood". From a musical family in...
' debut album, The Sound of White
The Sound of White
The Sound of White is the debut studio album by Australian pop singer-songwriter Missy Higgins, released 6 September 2004 on Eleven. Higgins had secured recording contracts with Eleven and Warner Bros. while still in high school, after winning a competition for unsigned artists run by radio station...
, which included the hit "Scar
Scar (song)
"Scar" is a pop song written by Australian singer Missy Higgins and Kevin Griffin of American band Better Than Ezra. Released on 2 August 2004 on Eleven, it was the first single from Higgins' debut album The Sound of White...
" The album went ten times platinum in Australia. Griffin also co-wrote Tristan Prettyman
Tristan Prettyman
Tristan Prettyman is a singer-songwriter and former Roxy model from San Diego, California. She is signed to Virgin Records and released her first major label album Twentythree on August 2, 2005, followed by her second album Hello...x which was released on April 15, 2008...
's single "Madly," and "Avalanche" on the self-titled, major-label debut of American Idol
American Idol
American Idol, titled American Idol: The Search for a Superstar for the first season, is a reality television singing competition created by Simon Fuller and produced by FremantleMedia North America and 19 Entertainment...
winner David Cook
David Cook (singer)
David Roland Cook is an American rock singer-songwriter, who rose to fame after winning the seventh season of the reality television show American Idol...
. Better Than Ezra released their 7th studio album, Paper Empire
Paper Empire
Paper Empire is the seventh studio album by the New Orleans-based rock trio Better Than Ezra. It was released on May 12, 2009 by Red Distribution. It is the first album to feature new drummer Michael Jerome following the departure of former drummer Travis McNabb in February 2009 after 13 years...
in May 2009. Kevin co-produced the Album with Producer Warren Huart
Warren Huart
Warren Huart is an English record producer/musician/composer and recording engineer based in Los Angeles, California. He currently lives in Silver Lake, Los Angeles, California with his wife and son.- Biography :...
.