Jeff Griffith Sings Songs That Make Grown Men Cry

11/30/2007 Stephen L. Betts “You’ve got to stand for something, and I stand for good country music,” singer Jeff Griffith tells Dallas Morning News music writer Mario Tarradell. “I’m not going to let nobody come in and mold me into what I should do. I can only sing and do what I feel. Every time I travel and perform, people are starved to death for that traditional sound.” Jeff’s hardcore country disc, If It Ain’t One Thing It’s Another teams him with producer Joe Stampley, of Moe Bandy and Joe Stampley fame, as well as traditionalist songwriters such as Tony Stampley (Joe’s son), Wayne Carson, Dean Dillon and Kevin Denny. Among the songs on the album is Wayne Carson’s anthemic “Drinkin’ Thing,” popularized by Gary Stewart. “I have kids at my show – 18, 19 years old …” he says. “They’ve never heard of Gary Stewart. I can’t get mad at them. I feel sorry for them. It goes to show you even the younger generation love that style of music. They are never going to know it unless somebody goes out there and gives them that.” Jeff, who was born in La Marque, Texas, and raised in nearby Santa Fe, says he “lived and breathed” the music of distinctive country artists such as Vern Gosdin and George Jones. “When you hear a song and the artist can make you cry, or when it gives you chills, that’s a gift. Vern Gosdin and George Jones could make me cry, run chills up my bones. I never wanted to copy their voices – you need to have your own style – but what I did want to copy by them is the way you presented your songs. There’s nothing like looking out in your audience and seeing a grown man with a handkerchief. That is what country music is all about.”