Cowboy Mouth’s Griffith to release second solo album
   Wrapped in aluminum foil is how Cowboy Mouth guitarist John Thomas Griffith sends his second solo album to radio stations.
Christening the sophomore album “Aluminum,” Griffith admits to not putting much stock into titling his albums.
“It hit me when I was driving down the street, and it seemed appropriate, unique,” Griffith said.
Griffith, who has played with Cowboy Mouth since its beginnings 12 years ago, released in 1988 his first solo album, “Son of an Engineer,” but didn’t consider a solo career.
“I just never really thought about it,” Griffith said. “I was a part of Cowboy Mouth; I was a team player.”
Being a part of the band gave Griffith the opportunity to write without the pressures of producing his own album.
Griffith, as a pending soloist and band member, could write songs such as “Jill” and have it appear on a Cowboy Mouth album, as it did on “Easy,” or have it appear elsewhere.
While in the midst of a two-year writing spurt, Griffith was able to produce his own album while taking time to learn the equipment that was not accessible to him in the late ‘80s with the production of “Son of an Engineer.”
Having built his own studio, Griffith was allowed to produce “Aluminum” in a new digital era.
The album started out as an all-piano recording but soon became electric with computers opening doors and making the process a learning experience, Griffith said.
The album itself includes works from a cover song of The Church’s “Metropolis” to a tribute to the women of the south.
Griffith was a fan of The Church in the ‘80s and agreed to record “Metropolis” for a tribute album to the band; he later added it to his album.
“Southern Girls” is Griffith’s praise to the southern girls he claims “rock his world.”
Declaring that “southern women are the real deal,” Griffith holds true to his beliefs, marrying one of these Southern beauties.
“I married a Georgia peach, and I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Griffith said.
While songs like “Southern Girls” dwell on the happier things in life, “Watered Down” is a deeper, more profound recording that tells of a subconscious Griffith.
“Basically it is a drug story; to be blunt,” Griffith said with no pun intended.
“Watered Down” was inspired by a recording manager who praised Griffith’s work and notoriety but admitted that he had no desire to work with him because Griffith was “so messed up” at that time.
“It really made me sad,” Griffith said. “I think it hindered my career.”
Griffith now knows, however, that he still has a chance at what he considers making it.
“Being sober and straight is the best thing in the world,” Griffith said.
With anthems of Southern female worship and thoughtful backgrounds of what used to be, Griffith also contributes his multi-instrumentalist talents to “Aluminum.”
A former LSU School of Music student who studied music composition, Griffith plays most of the music on the album, asking the question, “When you can do it, why not?”
Finding the time to produce such a consuming album came with the adjusting of Cowboy Mouth’s non-stop schedule.
Cutting shows to 150 dates a year, keeping them in major cities and including six-week vacation blocks, Griffith is able to continue a solo career and stay on with the band for “as long as they’ll have [him.]”
“I have the best of both worlds,” Griffith said, in regards to being able to have a second solo album and still being able to tour with “a rockin’ band.”
The constant work cycle does, however, leave Griffith homesick at times.
A native of Lubbock, Texas, with a wife of six years, Griffith wishes he could spend more time at home preparing for the two children he and his wife are in the process of adopting from Russia.
While tending to such a busy life, Griffith found himself inducted into the Texas Guitar Hall of Fame, sponsored by the Dallas-based magazine.
An honor given through the nominations and votes of his peers, Griffith is included in the Hall of Fame with legends such as Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top.
Though a part of the Hall of Fame, Griffith is a humble recipient hoping that “Aluminum” will give him independent recognition and direct his writing to score films.
Already hoping for an end-of-summer release for his third solo album, tentatively titled “Orange Soda,” Griffith will release “Aluminum” Tuesday.
“It is what it is, and I’m really proud of it,” Griffith said in regards to the album.
Whitney Pierce