October Artist of the Month - Andy Griggs
By: Maxine Macpherson
Andy Griggs grew up in West Monroe, Louisiana – an area of the country known for its musical traditions. “Music isn’t just a way of life in Louisiana, it is your life,” commented Griggs during a recent telephone interview from his current home in Nashville. With his deep, sure voice, Griggs has certainly taken this tradition to heart, and produces records that steadily show his wide-ranging musical style.
Griggs was exposed to music at an early age. His father, who died when Griggs was 10, led the church choir. After his death, Griggs, along with his brother Mason, began listening to their father’s country music albums so they could feel closer to him. It was Mason that decided to follow the music, playing with a band, writing songs and singing, while Andy pursued football. When Mason died of a heart attack at 21, Andy finally turned his attention to music.
Taking over his brother’s band, it was not long before Griggs was touring with the bluegrass/gospel group called The Sullivans, led by Jerry Sullivan. After a few years, Griggs heard Nashville's beckoning call and moved there in 1995.
Landing a contract with RCA Records, Griggs released his first CD in 1998, You’ll Never Be Lonely (the title track climbed to #1 on the charts and “She’s More” from the same album climbed to #2), followed by Freedom, his second CD, in 2002. This summer, he released This I Gotta See, which critics say may be his best yet. The CD has already reached #3 on CMT’s Top Ten CDs and the first single from the album, “She Thinks She Needs Me” is in the Top 5.
Griggs has released 3 CDs in less then 8 years. Does he think success came easy? “Nashville is a wide-open place. At any one time, there are a million or so people who want to take your job! Lots of things about Nashville can make you want to go home; you got to want to stay more. If you are an original, and you have a distinct soul, you can make it here. It hasn’t been easy. But I don’t know how to do anything else!” explained Griggs.
Many of Griggs’ hit songs have been romantic ballads like “Tonight I Wanna Be Your Man” and “I’ll Go Crazy.” However his new CD goes beyond ballads with a blend of bluegrass, Cajun, and some hard edge country – especially in rocking songs like “No Mississippi” and “Hillbilly Band.”
Griggs has co-written many of his most popular songs. “Collaboration is easier than writing alone, you play off each other. It’s especially easy if you share the same vision of where the song is going.” He is influenced by many things. “I never just sit down and say OK, I’m going to write. You have to be inspired by something. Inspiration can come from a variety of different things – maybe something as simple as talking with a friend on the phone.” One of the songs Griggs co-wrote for the new CD is the edgy “My Kind of Beautiful” which describes what he looks for in a woman, “both an angel and a sinner, extreme right and extreme left.”
Griggs insists on keeping his private life, private. He was listed as one of Nashville’s “most eligible bachelors” in Country Music Today magazine. “I don’t pay attention to that type of stuff.” He claims he is the solitary type. These days he says he’s usually on the front porch with a guitar and his dogs (he raises blue tick hunting dogs) or he’s out hunting and fishing when not on tour – which is where he is a great deal of the time.
“When you first start touring it’s fun and exciting. You are always asking the bus driver what state you’re in; then after a while you stop asking because it doesn’t matter no more. You feel if you eat one more ham sandwich, you’re going to puke. The everyday stuff, that’s the boring part.”
Being in front of an audience, that’s where it’s different every night. “This is your dream, performing is never dull. You do small things different on stage every night and you’re constantly feeding off something – the audience, a good band. I get pumped before the show and get energy doing it.”
It’s obvious that Griggs loves what he is doing and admits that he sometimes feels like all his dreams have come true. “There is nothing like going out on stage and hearing the people yell for you and singing your own songs back to you. It’s the best.”
Name: Andrew Tyler Griggs
Birthday: August 13, 1973
Birthplace: Monroe, LA
Marital Status: Divorced, no children
Charities: St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, Muscular Dystrophy Association, Mothers Against Drunk Driving, MusiCares, Alzheimer’s, Nashville READ, Crisis Center of Nashville, Tennessee Historic Commission, National Spokesperson for Family Violence Prevention Fund (1999-2000)
Awards:
2003 - Andy was nominated for CMA & ACM Vocal Event of the Year, along with Tracy Byrd, Montgomery Gentry and Blake Shelton
1999 - Andy was the only artist to have his debut single reach #1 in this year
1999 - Andy was named Artist/Writer of the Year by Sony/Tree Music Publishing
1999 - Andy was voted "Top New Male Country Artist of 1999" by both Monitor and R&R.
October Artist of the Month - Andy Griggs
Andy Griggs grew up in West Monroe, Louisiana – an area of the country known for its musical traditions. “Music isn’t just a way of life in Louisiana, it is your life,” commented Griggs during a recent telephone interview from his current home in Nashville. With his deep, sure voice, Griggs has certainly taken this tradition to heart, and produces records that steadily show his wide-ranging musical style.
