Dec. 7: Griffin House performs twice in one night at The Music Hall Lounge
Springfield, Ohio, native and current Connecticut based singer-songwriter Griffin House has had an unconventional path to his profession. At one point in his life, he was a promising golfer getting college scholarships, but the arduous training and competition drained him. Looking for a different wa
PORTSMOUTH, NH – Springfield, Ohio, native and current Connecticut based singer-songwriter Griffin House has had an unconventional path to his profession. At one point in his life, he was a promising golfer getting college scholarships, but the arduous training and competition drained him. Looking for a different way to fuel his passions, he decided to pursue music and over 20 years later, he’s writing, recording and performing stellar songs.
On December 7, House is going to be at the lounge of The Music Hall in Portsmouth where folks can check out his acoustic-driven repertoire. He’s going to be playing twice that night, with the first show being at 6pm and the second being at 8:30 p.m.
We recently had a talk about his unique start in music, a new EP he released and looking forward to coming back to Portsmouth.
131 Congress Street Portsmouth, NH 03801
Tickets: Buy: Griffin House
Rob Duguay: You got your start in music in a fairly unique way by buying your first guitar from a friend for $100 and turning down a scholarship to be part of the golf team at Ohio State to attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio while teaching yourself how to play guitar and write songs. What was the spark that made you want to switch gears and choose art over athletics?
Griffin House: It wasn’t like I was choosing art over athletics, it was more of me being burned out with athletics and I wanted to do something different. I had trained to get a scholarship to go play golf during my junior year, but my parents, especially my dad, were understanding of me wanting to go do what I wanted to do while following my heart. I went to Miami, and I didn’t learn how to play guitar until I got there so I lived in an arts dorm and I picked up the guitar there from some other guys who were music majors and knew how to play. I slowly learned how to play there and I was around music, I eventually got invited to be a singer in a band and one thing kind of led to another. I started writing my own songs, I started making recordings, I was an English major and by the time I got to my senior year, I didn’t really have a choice other than to be a poetry professor and go back to school or give music a try, so I gave it a try and got lucky.
RD: It’s great that it worked out that way. Do you still play golf or any other sports in your free time as a way to clear your head or do you do other things?
GH: Yeah, I play golf quite a bit, just for fun now. It’s kind of a way for me to relax and not think about anything while having some fun and using it as a hobby. I enjoy it much more now since I don’t have to do it for competition, so I play quite a bit. I quit for a while when I was burned out and I wanted to have a whole new identity, it felt like I became a whole new person for a while, but now I feel a bit more integrated in both aspects of sports, music and whatever else I enjoy doing.
RD: Very cool. Back in August, you released a new EP titled “Summer Dream”, so what inspired the making of this particular record and where was it made? Did you work with a producer on it or was it done in a DIY fashion?
GH: This was done in a back cabin room on the property I have with my family in Connecticut. My friend, who was in my first band with me, he’s a great guitar player, he called me up wanting to visit and sort of have a little bit of a reunion. We got together and worked on songs for a little EP, so it was a little side project that we were originally thinking about calling a different name, but we decided that it would just be better to put the songs out under my name. They’re a little bit different than what I would normally do because I wrote the songs with him, which isn’t something I’d typically do, but it was a fun way to put out some new music and it was nice to do something that sounded a little bit different.
RD: I definitely got that from listening to the EP. What are your thoughts on coming up to Portsmouth to perform in the lounge at The Music Hall this weekend? ‘
GH: It’s kind of interesting. I showed up there a couple years ago and I had never played a show in Portsmouth before. I’ve played up in Portland and in Boston over 50 times, but I had never stopped in Portsmouth so I came to a play a show in this room and it was sold out. It was kind of surprising because usually you have to play a city a few times to build a little bit of a following since you haven’t been there before, but it was really well attended. When I came back it was the same story, so this time they want me to do two shows, but it’s a really cool little room with really great sound in a pretty sweet environment.
It’s a really nice spot so I’m looking forward to being back.
RD: Yeah, it should be great. When it comes to playing two shows in one night, how do you prepare yourself? Do you consciously have two different setlists so you don’t have repeating performances?
GH: I rarely do two shows in one night, but I usually do two shows in one night at this place called Eddie’s Attic and I’ll try to not repeat songs for the second set. I’ll mix it up in case there’s one person who comes to both shows. I’ll have a handful of repeats, but for the most part, I try to keep it interesting for myself by playing different songs in each set instead of just doing the same exact show back to back.
RD: That approach is probably more fun for you as well so you don’t feel repetitive.
GH: Yeah.
RD: Is this EP that you released a preview to a full-length or a series of EPs you have planned for the future? What can we expect from you in terms of new recordings?
GH: I’ve written a few new songs and I may end up doing more songs with my friend who I did “Summer Dream” with, but I don’t really know if it makes sense anymore to put out full-length albums with the way the music business is because everything is released online. It’s almost like you can make one song and put it out every so often, but I do miss going in to make a whole album happen. Something to hold in your hands and pass around, but with everything being digital now, it makes more sense to do one or two songs at a time and put them out more often. I guess that I’ll be putting some things out soon that I’ve recorded and written this year, so at some point I’ll do that.
