Griffin House was born and raised in Springfield, Ohio

Springfield, Ohio

Springfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately west of Columbus and northeast of Dayton. Springfield is home to Wittenberg...

. His father worked in a tire shop and his mother helped place children with foster families. In high school, the athletically-gifted House landed a role in a musical and was surprised to learn that he had a natural talent for singing. House bought his first guitar for $100 from a friend, turned down a golf scholarship to Ohio University

Ohio University

Ohio University is a public university located in the Midwestern United States in Athens, Ohio, situated on an campus...

 and instead went to Miami University

Miami University

Miami University is a coeducational public research university located in Oxford, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1809, it is the 10th oldest public university in the United States and the second oldest university in Ohio, founded four years after Ohio University. In its 2012 edition, U.S...

 in Oxford, Ohio

Oxford, Ohio

Oxford is a city in northwestern Butler County, Ohio, United States, in the southwestern portion of the state. It lies in Oxford Township, originally called the College Township. The population was 21,943 at the 2000 census. This college town was founded as a home for Miami University. Oxford...

 and started to teach himself how to play the guitar and write songs.

House began writing and recording and issued his first independent release, Upland, in 2003. His music attracted attention from Nettwerk

Nettwerk

The Nettwerk Music Group is the umbrella company for Nettwerk Management, Nettwerk Records, Nettwerk One Publishing, Nutone Records, and Artwerk. With over 150 employees, the Vancouver-based company has offices in New York, Los Angeles, London, Boston, Nashville, and Hamburg...

, a Vancouver-based management company and record label, and House partnered with the label's American branch to issue Lost & Found in 2004. In August 2004, on CBS Sunday Morning, music journalist Bill Flanagan

Bill Flanagan

Bill Flanagan is an American author and television executive. He was born in Rhode Island in 1955 and graduated from Brown University in 1977. His books include Written in My Soul , Last of the Moe Haircuts , U2 at the End of the World , and the novels A&R , New Bedlam and Evening's Empire .As...

 (MTV/VH1) raved about Lost and Found, putting the newcomer on his short list of the best emerging songwriters in the U.S. “I bought House’s CD after a show in New York City,” said Flanagan, “and this never happens: I took it home and must have listened to it 20 times that weekend. I was knocked out.”

Several self-released albums followed, and in 2008 House released Flying Upside Down, produced by Jeff Trott and featuring Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench

Benmont Tench

Benjamin Montmorency Tench, III is an American keyboardist best known as a founding member of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers.-Early years:...

. House has released the majority of his records on his imprint label, Evening Records. House has toured extensively, opening for artists such as Ron Sexsmith

Ron Sexsmith

Ronald Eldon "Ron" Sexsmith is a Canadian singer-songwriter from St. Catharines, Ontario, currently based in Toronto. He started his own band when he was fourteen years old, and released the first recordings of his own material seven years later, in 1985...

, Patti Scialfa

Patti Scialfa

Vivienne Patricia "Patti" Scialfa is an American singer, songwriter, and guitarist. She is married to Bruce Springsteen and they have three children.- Early life :...

, Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter

Josh Ritter is an American singer-songwriter, guitarist and author who performs and records with The Royal City Band. Ritter is known for his distinctive Americana style and narrative lyrics. In 2006 he was named one of the "100 Greatest Living Songwriters" by Paste magazine.- Early life :Josh...

, John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp

John Mellencamp, previously known by the stage names Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American rock singer-songwriter, musician, painter and occasional actor known for his catchy, populist brand of heartland rock that eschews synthesizers and other artificial sounds...

, Mat Kearney

Mat Kearney

Mathew William "Mat" Kearney is an American musician born in Eugene, Oregon, now based in Nashville, Tennessee. Kearney has received critical acclaim and widespread recognition for his Columbia Records debut, Nothing Left to Lose. So far, he has a total of four top 20 hits on the Adult Top 40...

, and The Cranberries

The Cranberries

The Cranberries are an Irish rock band formed in Limerick in 1989 under the name The Cranberry Saw Us, later changed by vocalist Dolores O'Riordan. The band currently consists of O'Riordan, guitarist Noel Hogan, bassist Mike Hogan and drummer Fergal Lawler...

. Since 2007 House has been a national headliner.

He lives in Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville, Tennessee

Nashville is the capital of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat of Davidson County. It is located on the Cumberland River in Davidson County, in the north-central part of the state. The city is a center for the health care, publishing, banking and transportation industries, and is home...

.

Discography

• No More Crazy Love Songs (2002)

1. "Need Love in the Middle of the Day"
2. "Tom's Song"
3. "No More Crazy Love Songs"
4. "Now I Feel Fine"
5. "Heaven Now"
6. "Emma Bee"
7. "Kate"
8. "Miner"
9. "Just in Time"
10. "Rosemary Blue"
11. "Thee"

• Upland (2003, Evening Records)

1. "Waiting on Rain"
2. "No Instructions"
3. "The Way I Was Made"
4. "Tell Me a Lie"
5. "Waste Another Day"
6. "Broken"
7. ""
8. "Outside My Mind"
9. "Judas"
10. "Lay Down in Your Fields"
11. "Missed My Chance"

• Lost & Found (2004, Nettwerk America)

1. "Amsterdam"
2. "Ah Me"
3. "Tell Me a Lie"
4. "Waste Another Day"
5. "Waterfall"
6. "Liberty Line"
7. "The Way I Was Made"
8. "Why Won't You Believe?"
9. "Just a Dream"
10. "Missed My Chance"
11. "New Day"

• House of David, Volume One EP (2005)

1. "Crazy for You"
2. "Sinner"
3. "Say I Never"
4. "Traveling Thru America"
5. "One at a Time"
6. "Only Love Remains"

• House of David, Volume Two EP (2005)

1. "To You Someday"
2. "Skin"
3. "Lay Down in Your Fields"
4. "New York Times"
5. "Show Me Yourself"

• Homecoming (2006, Evening Records)

1. "Dance with Me"
2. "Never Again"
3. "Downtown Line"
4. "Czech Republic"
5. "Mirage"
6. "Burning Up the Night"
7. "Live to be Free"
8. "Ordinary Day"
9. "Lead Me On"
10. "The Guy That Says Goodbye to You is Out of His Mind"
11. "'Cause I Miss You"
12. "Only If You Need Me"
13. "Go Out on My Own"

• Flying Upside Down (2007)

1. "Better Than Love"
2. "I Remember (It’s Happening Again)"
3. "Let Me In"
4. "One Thing"
5. "The Guy That Says Goodbye to You Is Out of His Mind"
6. "Live To Be Free"
7. "Lonely One"
8. "Heart of Stone"
9. "Hanging On (Tom’s Song)"
10. "Flying Upside Down"
11. "When the Time Is Right"
12. "Good for You"
13. "Waiting for the Rain to Come Down"

• 42 and a half minutes with Griffin House (2009)

(B-sides and Commentary)

1. "Hudson Ohio"
2. "All I’ve Ever Known"
3. "Thalweg"
4. "So Wrong, So Right"
5. "An Uninspiring Stretch of Road"
6. "Parliament Lights"
7. "San Quentin"
8. "Murder in the First"
9. "The Waiting"
10. "Time"
11. "Covenant"
12. "I Won’t Leave"
13. "Self Diagnosis"
14. "Damn Day in My Shoes"
15. "No Deal Devil"
16. "Not For Sale"
17. "Hangin’ At The Studio"
18. "Give a Little Love"
19. "Last Thought"

• The Learner (2010)

1. "If You Want To"
2. "River City Lights"
3. "Standing at the Station"
4. "Just Another Guy"
5. "She Likes Girls"
6. "Never Hide"
7. "Rule the World"
8. "Gotta Get Out"
9. "Feels So Right"
10. "Let My People Go"
11. "Native"
12. "Coming Down the Road"

Popular culture

• He recorded a cover of the Jackson Browne
  Jackson Browne
  Jackson Browne is an American singer-songwriter and musician who has sold over 17 million albums in the United States alone....
  
   song, "These Days
  These Days (Jackson Browne song)
  "These Days" is a song written by Jackson Browne and principally recorded by Nico, Gregg Allman, and Browne himself in three distinctly different musical styles...
  
  " for the Everwood
  Everwood
  Everwood is an American drama television series that initially aired in the United States on The WB. The series is set in the fictional small town of Everwood, Colorado, and was filmed in Ogden, South Salt Lake, and Draper, Utah, except the series pilot which was filmed in Canmore, Alberta,...
  
  soundtrack album. Both that song and "Amsterdam" were later featured in the show.
• Nettwerk, House's sometimes-label, released a compilation called Love Is A Mixtape as a free internet download for Valentine's Day of 2007, featuring other artists such as Barenaked Ladies
  Barenaked Ladies
  Barenaked Ladies is a Canadian alternative rock band. The band is currently composed of Jim Creeggan, Kevin Hearn, Ed Robertson, and Tyler Stewart. Barenaked Ladies formed in 1988 in Scarborough, Ontario, then a suburban municipality outside the City of Toronto...
  
   and Chantal Kreviazuk
  Chantal Kreviazuk
  Chantal Jennifer Kreviazuk is a Canadian singer-songwriter of the adult contemporary music genre. She is also a classically trained pianist, and can play the guitar.-Albums:...
  
  . His contribution was the Homecoming cut, "The Guy That Says Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind".
• His song "Waterfall" was featured in 2007 Rembrandt Oral Health commercial, nationally aired.
• His song "Just a Dream" appeared in Rescue Me
  Rescue Me (TV series)
  Rescue Me is an American television drama series that premiered on the FX Network on July 21, 2004, and concluded on September 7, 2011. The series focuses on the professional and personal lives of a group of New York City firefighters in the fictitious Ladder 62 / Engine 99 firehouse.The show...
  
  .
• His song "Better than Love" was featured in Season 5 of One Tree Hill
  One Tree Hill (TV series)
  One Tree Hill is an American television drama created by Mark Schwahn, which premiered on September 23, 2003, on The WB Television Network. After its third season, The WB merged with UPN to form The CW Television Network, and, since September 27, 2006, the network has been the official broadcaster...
  
  and in the film Not Since You (2009) and the Japanese/American movie Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
  Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac
  Memoirs of a Teenage Amnesiac is a 2010 drama film starring Japanese actress Maki Horikita, Japanese actors Kenichi Matsuyama and Yuya Tegoshi, and American actor Anton Yelchin based on a book written by Gabrielle Zevin.-Cast:...
  
  
• His song "When the Time Is Right" was featured in the sixth episode of A Gifted Man
  A Gifted Man
  A Gifted Man is an American television series, which premiered on CBS on September 23, 2011. The series is about a talented but self-absorbed surgeon who starts questioning his purpose in life when he is visited by the spirit of his deceased ex-wife...
  
  .

External links

• GriffinHouseMusic.com - Official Website
• Profile by Benjamin Poston
• Biography on ArtistDirect
• NPR Interview - Griffin House on NPR's World Cafe
• Artworks Interview - Artworks Magazine Interview