Griffin House: A review
written by Kristine Young
So it all started with an idea. I had a week to myself without my husband, and I needed something do to for a “girls’ night out.” My friend’s husband was away with my husband, and so we thought we ought to do something fun. Well, my idea of fun is going to a show, and what I mean by “show” is a concert. So I started to look through all the venue listings around Philly and landed on the Tin Angel’s website. I love the comfortable and intimate setting, so I looked to see who was playing during my “bachelorette” week. I didn’t see anyone that I was familiar with or had any immediate interest in seeing, but one listing caught my eye. So I clicked the link…
I think that even though I only saw one person in the photo for that particular night’s entertainment, I must have assumed it was a band. When the website loaded, I soon realized that what I came to was just for one person – Griffin House. He had a few songs streaming on the website so I soon learned that I liked Griffin House. I emailed my friend with the idea and his link. She too concluded that she enjoyed what she heard and we made a plan for March 5th.
When we got to the Tin Angel we found the place was packed. That’s always a good sign, and even though we weren’t familiar with Griffin, apparently lots of other people were. The opening band, Sons of William, in their own right, were quite good and captured the attention of the crowd. They had a catchy sound, and the ingenious thing about this band was that they doubled as Griffin’s backing band. When Griffin got on stage, he went right into his songs. Any chit-chat came later in the set. He has a way of writing songs that tell stories, so I suppose he doesn’t need to tell any in between songs. His songs aren’t the most complicated things. Still, they are simple and have a truth about 
them, and I think that is one of his strengths. He conveys the emotions of these stories with his expressive voice and he paints vivid pictures for us. Throughout the night he won me over. He’s still young yet, I believe he’s 26, and this tour was to start promoting his new album, Flying Upside Down, which comes out in stores later this month. He announced that he was selling Flying Upside Down at his shows, which at this point was at least a month and half before the official store release date. I can’t always purchase music at shows, but that night I decided to go for it and bought the new album. I wanted to be able to take this kind of music with me. It was more than one nice evening in a nice place.
Now having spent some serious time digesting the album, I find that Flying Upside Down has really stood the test. I immediately enjoyed it, but it wasn’t just a flash in the pan kind of thing. It’s held up under multiple listens. “I Remember (It’s Happening Again)” the second song on the album, deals with the issue of war. It’s a thoughtful piece that isn’t too heavy handed. A major theme found in his songs is love and romance. I suppose that’s fitting given his age, and I find it to be endearing. He has songs that deal with the pursuit of love in “Let Me In” and “The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind”, of failed relationships with “One Thing” and being alone in “Lonely One.” When I listen to Griffin sing, I hear shades of Neil Diamond, Bruce Springsteen and even a little bit of Bono. That’s not to say that he sounds much like any of these giants, but every so often I just get a slight hint of it.
Griffin is clearly a singer songwriter by trade, but his album is not sparse. It’s richly orchestrated with touches of piano, organ and strings while staying true to a pop rock model. And, Griffin has more on his mind than just women. “Hanging On (Tom’s Song) is about the loss of a loved one when he was young. In the last song “Waiting For The Rain To Come Down” he deals with his internal struggles, his apparent faith and his dependence on God. Griffin writes songs that bely his age. I would suggest to you to check out his music. I don’t feel that he breaks any new ground with this record, but it’s very enjoyable. I for one was very glad that his name caught my eye, and I gave him a chance.
