He led the Long Ryders band in the 1980s, founded the Coal Porters group in the 1990s, has recorded several solo albums and is the author of volumes on Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons and bluegrass music.
[1] After graduating from Ballard High School in eastern Louisville and playing in a band called The Frosties,[2] Griffin attended the University of South Carolina, receiving a bachelor's degree in journalism in 1977.
Griffin left the Unclaimed in November 1981, along with band's bassist Barry Shank, to form the nascent Long Ryders, adding Greg Sowders on drums and, after a period of searching, guitarist Stephen McCarthy.
Shank resigned from the band to pursue a doctoral degree after a year, and British musician Des Brewer[5] took over on bass in time for the Long Ryders' debut EP, 10-5-60 (1983).
[6] In January 2016, the European label Cherry Red Records released a four-CD box set, Final Wild Songs, comprising the band's original three full-length albums, their one EP, various rarities and demos, and a 15-song live Benelux radio performance.
[7] In addition to the Long Ryders' catalog and eight full-length albums and two EPs credited to the Coal Porters, Griffin has recorded five solo discs: Little Victories (1997), the performance collection Worldwide Live 1997–2002 (2002), As Certain as Sunrise (2005), The Trick Is to Breathe (2014) and The Journey from Grape to Raisin (2024).
[10] Also in the band were Neil Robert Herd and Pat McGarvey from the Coal Porters on various string instruments and former Weather Prophets and Rockingbirds drummer Dave Morgan.
The volume includes interviews with Emmylou Harris, Chris Hillman, Peter Fonda and other artists who associated with Parsons during his days with the International Submarine Band, the Byrds, the Flying Burrito Brothers and as a solo performer.
This volume includes profiles on Mother Maybelle Carter, Doc Watson, Clarence White, Norman Blake, Tony Rice and Bryan Sutton, as well as chapters on equipment, techniques and an instructional CD.
[12] A revised and expanded second edition of Million Dollar Bash appeared in November 2014 to coincide with Sony's release of The Basement Tapes in an unabridged, six-disc format, for which Griffin provided the introductory essay.