Rodney Griffin Interview - On the Couch With Fouch | Greater Vision | Christian Artist

hey friends Rodney Griffin here previewing the on the mouch with couch episode that you're getting ready to watch and I just wanted to invite you to join greater vision on any of our praise fest events we're wonderful again wonderfully excited about praise fest Niagara Falls praise fest Branson and the homecoming of them all the Great Smokies praise fest in Pigeon Forge Tennessee so if you want to join us please do that check our website out greater vision music.com see you there hey thank you for joining me today for on the couch with vouch got Rodney Griffin of greater vision with me today thank you for joining me welcome to all and we are in Niagara Falls Ontario Canada at praise fest here at the Scotiabank Convention Center this is one of my favorite places that we come Wow because it's just right across the street Niagara Falls it's beautiful over there and unlike this facility it's nice it's clean the buses are just right out back so I really like coming here I want to get good clean facility what what yes what is your favorite place to do to sink me where's where's your favorite venue well I'm a little probably a little tainted but my mom and dad my dad pastors and that church is magnificent and we sing there once a year and people come from all over it's packed and the First Baptist Church of Brussels Springs Kentucky forever in the area good preaching and I guess that's my favorite that's what we currently do that's cool very nice so it's my favorite yours is a little more sentimental I guess yeah I am okay so normally what we ask is for the person who's doing the interview to go ahead and give like their musical background how they got started into gospel music kind of their history and then talk about your family as well okay so do me look at you look at you look where every if you'd like to look off into the distance yeah at the phone whatever you'd like at the phone number one song right there it all started for me in high school we have backup great school mom and dad took me to hear the cathedrals and Kingsman every year Memorial Hall in a Dayton Ohio and that just set up desire in my heart to do this never thought I had the ability to do it and I still wonder back so every year they took me and I fell in love with this music so when I was in high school we formed a quartet the fellowship for 10 you've probably heard of us I've got all your records four of us there from the Fellowship of Christian Athletes at the Alaskan County High School in it's summer so well we sang in churches and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes it means and made a couple cassettes okay then I went to college at Berea College graduated 88 and moved out east to Virginia where I was born Newport News Virginia and didn't have any opportunity the same I was working at the Newport News Shipbuilding plant there and just hopefully for an opportunity and I got to sing with a local group called the Galileans Kim channels a wonderful man we got to work with him last week in Chesapeake Virginia well I'm wanting to sing but I'm sitting there my desk at the shipyard writing songs wanting to do this and then I get a phone call from my sister in Ohio and she says we're getting ready to have our first baby and she said something that kind of changed the course of my life she said it's a shame that little Brittany will never really because we were living you know 89 outright weight and I thought man what am i doing out here do not really enjoying this work at the shipyard why don't I just move back to the vicinity where I'm from Kentucky Ohio and at least try to sing with someone locally and get to be with my family so I said okay I've got out my singing newsmagazine that's before cellphones before internet anyway so I'm looking through this is 1990 looking through my singing news and I see an ad for a little group out and amyl Tintin oh hi oh the group is called higher dedication and it was just an Abbott says thank you for playing our latest single I called the number hey you don't know me Rodney Griffin Newport News Shipbuilding definitely if you do you guys know of any group in Ohio my dad was pastoring in Hillsboro so I thought I could live with them and work it wherever and then sing during the weekend do you know of anybody in that area they said yes we need some money first oh wow I was like okay this is definitely the Lord answering my prayer so I bought a one-way ticket and flew because I knew it was God's will and they said by the way we just went full-time we're leaving for California next week and we need some money I was like are you serious I mean one week I'm sitting at the shipyard not enjoying my job and you mean next week I could be riding a bus traveling singing full-time I thought maybe just part-time but you're serious this could be my only album Ford in California here we come at about crash-course sau-lan flew into him in cincinnati went over to hamilton try it out they said my dad and I rented a u-haul we drove back to Virginia I went in and I gave my resignation or to shipyard we got my stuff I put my little condo up for sale and offer you know how if we win headed back in to meet the guys and we took off for California so it was literally like that so that was my first full-time position so I'm there two months and the group just kind of disbanded didn't have the calendar of dates really we needed to make it so the group disbanded and once again I got my singing news I'm like okay Lord you did it once if you can do it again I look at the ads in the back where it says needed singers and it said family group full-time I said okay let me call them hello yeah this is Gerald Brashear the brashears out in Russellville Arkansas and we're needing somebody and he said where are you from I said well Kentucky not living in Ohio where my parents are in between he said well we're gonna be in Columbus Ohio next week like that's crazy because they always sing out west Arizona Oklahoma Texas Arkansas and sure enough that came through Columbus I met him at the church tried out they said we've learned ahead be outside love to be here and I joined the Breshears and I moved to Russellville Arkansas I was there for six months and we go to quartet convention in back when he was in Nashville Tennessee we're at the quartet convention and a guy walks up to me with a group priority they used to sing in Brits okay and he said I remember you he said you sang in the solo competition last year here in Nashville I said I sure did I drove from Newport News just chasing a dream and nothing happened and I had a cold couldn't sing well nobody was he said did you know the Dixie melody boys are looking for a bear no Kentucky so he said I feel me hook you up I said I would love an opportunity and sure enough he introduced me to Dixie melody boys I tried out told Mr Brashear how to be trying out and he gave me his blessing and then all I knew was that eight months from sitting in Newport News Shipbuilding now eight months later I was singing on major stages we saved with the cathedrals we sang with the needle and we sang with greater vision we sing with the Tally's we say the big venues and all of a sudden I'm living a dream right two years I was with the Dixie melody boys that mark travel left here and I came here in 1930 and I just finished 20 years what a jerk oh no that's the synopsis of the journey and it's amazing the Lord did it without internet what well I mean if you think about it you know back when there was no internet it was just the singing news and word-of-mouth that's it I mean how that someone could go from Newport News Virginia to being on the bus in a matter of days yes it's amazing and it had to be a god thing yeah but just to think that there were other guys just probably were stories just like yours yeah and somehow it just it worked out they just went from A to B just like that without being able to email or no cell phone not knowing someone's landline to their house yeah you know they're all a phone number hope I catch them with their home yeah you know now it's it'd be so much more easier now but that's that's pretty cool very neat story I didn't know you're older yeah that's it that's pretty cool and I met Regina four months after I've started with writer all right so I don't recommend this but we met in April and we got engaged in July and we got married in December and that'll be 20 years ago this December well so I don't recommend that well but it worked for us yeah it's worked for you and I you know the previous interview with Chris Ullman he said that him and his wife were engaged from like May to November or something somebody just they've been married 21 years I think he said yeah something like that so you guys congratulations thank you that's cool my wife and I we our engagement was like eight months I think ish 10 8 10 months again so a little bit longer but we dated for a while before that but yeah it's pretty neat to hear stories of people that you know I'm sure many of you have a similar story where you know you dated for a short while or we're engaged for short while now you've been married 15 20 30 40 maybe sometimes 50 years and you've made it work and so hats off to all you guys and to you guys for you know marriage is rough for anybody at times but it's great as long as make God the the point in the the center of your marriages work for anybody they're really very cool so tell a little bit about you've talked about your wife isn't even married and I know you have a couple kids yes everybody bunch of kids two girls Regan is 16 she enjoys playing piano she's very good at playing piano she enjoys soccer volleyball running track my youngest daughter is Riley she will be 14 in June of 2014 and she enjoys soccer volleyball and walking not run so he went Joy's jogging probably writing it and I enjoyed job between the running a nice little trotting the trot well that's that's cool that's nice that they enjoy the more active things yes that's what we're trying Grayson is too and he since the weather got nice he's been enjoying just going outside so that's been cooled like hey that's great we love it that you want to go outside because they'll come a day when you'll want to stay inside with video games and TV and Internet and computers and then we're going to make you go outside so hopefully it will continue but you never know so that's cool that they like to get out and be active they do really neat so that we know a little bit about your family's history we're going to get to the social media questions okay so the first question is from DW Crutchfield and he's actually here today advocate okay they've been here for this event and he wants to know what song do you wish you had written several Amazing Grace any song that you can hear father saying a congregation to me is the ultimate blessing but as far as a southern gospel song I've always admired the hoppers song that's him if you get the lyrics oh that's him and look at it it's just amazing it is very can see the picture you know the song starts out a tender blade of grass so green crushed in the footprint of the Nazarene Springs back with a message to burr that's him as if Jesus were walking across the grass and just the weight of his foot and body all of nature recognizes that this is our creator know I came this is one just another human just walked on us that's him what a great that's equal sure that is a great song those who have not heard it check it out maybe search it on YouTube or get the song on iTunes listen to the demo purchase it it's great sure so the next question well actually I don't I can't ask just one question because this was the majority of the questions that you guys submitted and you've been songwriter of the year for 15 15 years so it kind of makes sense that everyone would ask about songwriting so just briefly just give the process you go through when something comes to mind or however a song comes about for you just give a brief this is how it happens for me I would compare it to a preacher getting an idea for a sermon he can be driving down the road and say pal its kind of thought or maybe he sees a billboard that makes him think wow great sermon would be maybe in casual conversation with someone else they say something a phrase like wow that sparks this Bible story so it it's spark from different sources but the process for me is as soon as the idea sparks it's usually the title of the song and it usually lends itself to some melodic farm and time signature I remember when I got the idea for just one more song that was from back in 1998 I remember just one more soul if just one more sold word so I knew then where the time signature was right and where the emphasis it just or so where the emphasis would be in wow what words that would land on and that all helps you find the time signature and you just keep crafting and molding and it takes me anywhere from a couple of days to a couple years to really get satisfied with us um so it's kind of the thought the melody did the rest of the lyric in the body of the song and then you can take it anywhere any amount of time pretty much very much I've no idea they're all different sometimes quickly but most of the time for me it's about a week before them satisfied and I feel like a lot of songwriters robbed themselves about Dennis minivan robbed themselves of finishing a great song by declaring it finished too soon yeah that's fine I know I've heard that rhyme and several songs but that'll do it's too soon no I don't want to rush this let me just put this aside for a few days and see if I come up with a different rhyme pattern that maybe hasn't been used in this that's some bleep five if we want to get through so we can share it tell us about it we think it's gonna be recorded later that week you know the truth is it's usually a year to the forum or entries it's no hurry so there's the process it's it's easy simple just take your time 10% inspiration 90% perspiration I heard that years ago and it's so true it's easy to get an idea for a solid man labor over hoodie but my process is I don't want you to feel what I felt when I got the idea so in order to do that I've got to get into that thought in a musical pattern that'll beat you in the mood to hit you that idea and I don't want to distract you or have you thinking about something else I want to have your attention from the first line to get you or like I feel the same way you did when you got that out of again make sense that's for sure so there it is there's the process and for those of you who are aspiring writers maybe take a little bit of that and implement it into your writing and just know that sometimes it takes a while for the song to be finished and take your time don't brush it and just do what you feel is right with it and just and there's no Ritter spire on it yes inspire a little bit the rest is that's right next question is from Deidre Mooneyham she wants to know if you've ever forgotten the words to a song oh yeah very often okay next question honestly I'll be singing a song that I've written and I'll be thinking which line did I go with because in your writing process it's a series of choices about using between this line this line and you go back and forth so much within that week or month that you're riding and your brain that other line is still in there even though that's not what you decided turbine times in the middle of a phrase I'm like okay which line that I finally go with it's also done it's a great battle it's great I would love to hear that on videos oh my goodness the line that didn't make it but it got Sun that one's on accident don't be a great video maybe someone would be you know some you know familiar with the song sitting there singing along with watching your YouTube video most of the time I don't they say if it doesn't come I just go blank I don't try to say that other phrase cuz I know it's not right you ought to do a video sometime of some of your some of the more popular songs and just say okay so this is what it came out to be this is what I kind of thought it thought about it you know that would be I had a need to see how it could have sounded or what the words could have been we hit some quick hitters here here's some some more fun kind of more fun stuff Darla Cromwell wants to know who is your favorite legacy five-person well I guess I would have to say the one I had the most history with is Scott Howard now guys did talk a lot together I've been to his house on multiple occasions I pulled my boat all the way to Nashville he's driven all the way to Jefferson City Tennessee when we lived in Tennessee we now live in Kentucky but he drove all the like brought his veteran just so we can go fishing that night Sammy there's a lot of history writers so that said a lot of time together yeah and you have a lot of things in common a lot of similar interest yeah especially with the fishing and yes salmon I'm not a real big Fisher you know now if someone who wanted to talk about basketball that draws me in that interest me fishing I'm like so kevin kline cough sorry if i mispronounce that he would like to know how many times were you dropped on your head as a child uh you know I've been dropped so many times I don't remember how many times I don't know I was beat a lot my parents believed in Holy Spirit and and Holy Spirit discipline their disciplining their boy who was sadly I was a smart-mouth blond kid of course at least I had hair so it's just it's a tribute well speaking of hair you actually submitted a question for yourself yes I won't even ask myself when his question for himself is is that a hairpiece it's two hair pieces I've got one on attached to this side and one attached to this side but together they form this beautiful unit that you're beholding they're perfect that is a great answer a lot of you to pieces and they quickly give us the process but behind for those of you most of you I'm assuming have seen your little stage dance you do omma at the back of the stage when someone's singing a fast song and stand up clapping funny part you come oh yeah running through doing your little dance give me just real short in just 10 seconds the thought process on that names how does that come about I just think how can I look absolutely ridiculous and distract from these friends it's possible I love it so that's kind of the mindset I have to get into if I ever decide yeah join you or to beat you to ultimate distraction very cool you know what I've enjoyed these questions but you know what I'm ready for the pouch sewn the capstone is I don't know if you're familiar with it but without Sony I have us 5 questions here you have a certain amount of time and answer the question if you do not get the answer in the amount of time would go right to the next question here we go the first person to survive going over Niagara Falls was John Smith leg size fingers or finger sized arm John Smith the world's first UFO landing pad was built in Thomas Mifflin Oh murder was a national Alberta has a national park larger than the country of Canada and Peterborough Ontario has the world's largest museum for hot dogs so we got John Smith John Smith John Smith 1 John Smith 1 Canada hot dogs the correct answers are Annie Edson Taylor number 2 was just a you know would you rather have leg size fingers or fingers or leg sized arms so Sean Smith is a great answer that is perfect and where was the world's first UFO landing pad built was in st. Paul Alberta not John Smith London and Alberta has a national park larger than the country of Canada not no knocking Ben Switzerland Wow and lastly these are all kinda most of them were Canadian based and the last one was Peterborough Ontario has the world's largest museum for not hot dogs I know you love hot dogs canoes so there you go a little Canada trivia wonderful hope you enjoyed the top stump thank you thank you I did thank you for being with me thank you guys for watching and we'll see you at a concert some con soon thank you so much god bless that's okay I need more action I need more activity hi I've got one more question for brother Rodney and the question is if you were stranded on an island and you could only pick one person to be stranded with and it could not be a family member how who would you pick Tony Romo because he throws a great spiral there you have it there are spirals until someone finds you

Channel: Matthew Fouch

Views: 9,518

Rating: 4.8333335 out of 5

Keywords: matt fouch, fouch, couch, on the couch with fouch, music, video, interview, songwriter, song writing, song, singers, singing, quartet, trio, bass singer, bass, song writing tips, Southern Gospel (Musical Genre), southern gospel trio, low bass singer, great song writing tips, Christian Music (Musical Genre), Gospel Music (Musical Genre), Legacy Five (Musical Group), Greater Vision (Musical Artist), Gerald Wolfe (Musical Artist), Rodney Griffin (Musical Artist), christian artist, couch fouch

Id: HUXkeaIWVhM

Length: 27min 35sec (1655 seconds)

Published: Mon Jun 30 2014