Kevin Griffin

For other people named Kevin Griffin, see Kevin Griffin (disambiguation).

Kevin Griffin (singer)
Background information
Birth name	Kevin Griffin
Born	(1968-10-01) October 1, 1968 New Orleans, LA
Genres	Rock Alternative rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter, and producer
Instruments	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1988–present
Associated acts	Better Than Ezra

Kevin Griffin (born October 1, 1968) 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 is All Together Now, released in September 2014. 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.

Personal life

Kevin Griffin grew up and attended high-school in Monroe, Louisiana. 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 after much consideration 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 Blunt, Christina Perri, Taylor Swift, Train, Howie Day, Missy Higgins, Daniel Powter, Augustana, Debbie Harry, and Josh Radin. Griffin is credited with having co-written "Stuck Like Glue," the Mediabase #1 single from the 2010 Sugarland album, "Incredible Machine", as well as their subsequent single "Tonight". Most recently, Kevin co-wrote Tristan Prettyman's top ten single, "My Oh My". 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. Other recent artists Kevin has worked with include Secret Sisters, A Rocket to the Moon, Boys Like Girls, Megan and Liz, Skillet, Shinedown, and Hot Chelle Rae. Kevin co-wrote three songs with Barenaked Ladies front man, Ed Robertson on their 2013 album "Grinning Streak".

Year	Artist	Song	Album	Credit
2003	Blondie	Good Boys	The Curse of Blondie	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Collide	Stop All the World Now	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Perfect Time of Day	Stop All the World Now	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Sunday Morning Song	Stop All the World Now	Co-Writer
	Meat Loaf	Testify	Couldn't Have Said It Better	Writer
2004	Graham Colton Band	Cigarette	Drive	Co-Writer
	Graham Colton Band	Cut	Drive	Co-Writer
	Graham Colton Band	First Week	Drive	Co-Writer
	Graham Colton Band	How Low (Breakdown)	Drive	Co-Writer
	Graham Colton Band	Morning Light	Drive	Co-Writer
	Missy Higgins	Don't Ever	The Sound of White	Co-Writer
	Missy Higgins	Scar	The Sound of White	Co-Writer
	Missy Higgins	Unbroken	The Sound of White	Co-Writer
2005	Josh Kelley	Lover Come Up	Almost Honest	Co-Writer
2006	Val Emmich	Absolutely Still	Sunlight Searchparty	Co-Writer
2007	Graham Colton	New Year's Resolution	Here Right Now	Co-Writer
	Ingram Hill	Four Letter Word	Cold in California	Co-Writer
	Ingram Hill	Impossible	Cold in California	Co-Writer
	Jeremy Lister	Fit	Just One Day EP	Co-Writer
	Jeremy Lister	Just One Day	Just One Day EP	Co-Writer
	Jon McLaughlin	Human	Indiana	Co-Writer
2008	David Cook	Avalanche	David Cook	Co-Writer
	I Nine	Don't Wanna	Heavy Weighs the King	Co-Writer
	Joshua Radin	Free of Me	Simple Times	Co-Writer
	Lenka	Knock Knock	Lenka	Co-Writer
	Tristan Prettyman	Madly	Hello...x	Co-Writer
2009	Howie Day	Be There	Sound the Alarm	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Longest Night	Sound the Alarm	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Sound the Alarm	Sound the Alarm	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Undressed	Sound the Alarm	Co-Writer
	Train	I Got You	Save Me, San Francisco	Co-Writer
2010	James Blunt	I'll Be Your Man	Some Kind of Trouble	Co-Writer
	Sugarland	Stuck Like Glue	The Incredible Machine	Co-Writer
	Sugarland	Tonight	The Incredible Machine	Co-Writer
2011	Augustana	Counting Stars	Augustana	Co-Writer
	David Cook	Fade into Me	This Loud Morning	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Ceasefire	Ceasefire EP	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Isn't It Obvious	Ceasefire EP	Co-Writer
	Howie Day	Oxygen	Ceasefire EP	Co-Writer
	Il Volo	This Time	Il Volo (International Version)	Co-Writer
2012	Boys Like Girls	Crazy World	Crazy World	Co-Writer
	Daniel Powter	Cupid	Turn on the Lights	Co-Writer
	Daniel Powter	The Day We Never Met	Turn on the Lights	Co-Writer
	Missy Higgins	Hello Hello	The Ol' Razzle Dazzle	Co-Writer
	Tristan Prettyman	My Oh My	Cedar + Gold	Co-Writer
2013	A Rocket to the Moon	Whole Lotta You	Wild & Free	Co-Writer
	A Rocket to the Moon	You're My Song	Wild & Free	Co-Writer
	Barenaked Ladies	Did I Say That Out Loud?	Grinning Streak	Co-Writer
	Barenaked Ladies	Gonna Walk	Grinning Streak	Co-Writer
	Barenaked Ladies	Odds Are	Grinning Streak	Co-Writer
	James Blunt	Kiss This Love Goodbye	Moon Landing (Deluxe Edition)	Co-Writer
	James Blunt	Telephone	Moon Landing (Deluxe Edition)	Co-Writer
2014	Christina Perri	Lonely Child	Head or Heart	Co-Writer
	Christina Perri	One Night	Head or Heart	Co-Writer
	JT Hodges	Already High	TBA	Co-Writer
	Megan and Liz	Night of Our Lives	Simple Life	Co-Writer
2015	Barenaked Ladies	Get Back Up	Silverball	Co-Writer
	Barenaked Ladies	Duct Tape Heart	Silverball	Co-Writer

External links

• Official web site