Album Notes

Grandpa Griffith is a five-headed hydra of rock and pop. All hailing from Oklahoma City, each member brings a different set of influences and performance styles to the table.

Aaron Copeland is the exuberant front man of the band. He comes from the school of great 80’s extroverts like David Lee Roth and Axl Rose and demands an audience’s attention.

Sharing the lead vocal and diva duties is Jeff Logan. While not quite as exhibitionist as Copeland, he is a sucker for an infectious melody and is influenced by all manner of blue-eyed soul. Jeff also has a genuine, nay, creepy love for the music of the Bee Gees, both pre- and post-disco.

Banging the skins is Willie Koenig, the ethnomusicologist of the group. Actually a serious student of Latin percussion at heart, Willie knows the value of self-sacrifice as he resigns himself to the drum set for the noble cause of Grandpa Griffith’s eclectic, genre-bending aesthetic.

Bass-player Matt Hancock rounds out the rhythm section as a faithful slave to the groove. As the resident indie-rock connoisseur of the band, he takes a “less-is-more” approach in holding down the humorous chaos that sometimes ensues in a Griffith performance.

As a foil to Hancock, guitarist Michael Stutzman usually takes a “more-is-more” approach to composition. A classically trained musician, he aspires to live up to the legacy of his biggest influences: the rigid technical standards of Frank Zappa and the “smarter-than-you” songwriting of They Might Be Giants.

The Grandpa Griffith live experience is as much theater as it is a rock show. Often incorporating costuming and props, they are dedicated to instilling in each and every song a personality of its own. It is like seeing twenty or so bands in one evening for the price of one.

The band was formed in the summer of 2001 specifically to record a batch of humorous songs written by Copeland, Logan, and Stutzman. The product of those DIY-spirited sessions is the album entitled, simply, Jay. Upon release of that album, they have seen some local radio airplay. Since then, they have enjoyed writing new material as a surprisingly efficient five-person democracy and playing shows in the Oklahoma City area.

They are currently finishing their follow-up album, "Electric Scooter Holiday Blowout".