Founding member of The Grifters, Bernie Griffen has been front and centre of New Zealand’s music scene for nearly two decades, as long-time and well-loved host of bFM’s Border Radio show as well as performer and champion of independent Kiwi music.
A singer-songwriter with a powerful voice full of soul, humour and sadness, Griffen is a story-teller to the core, penning songs about characters real and imagined existing in a world of criminals and saints; dusty feet and wounded hearts. He draws influence from blues, from the country-rock of Gram Parsons and The Grateful Dead, the sharp-tongued lyrical wit of Bob Dylan, the mournful wails of Neil Young and outlaw country singers like Johnny Cash.
2014 sees Griffen step out into new territory with the record Salvation, recorded at Auckland’s The Lab studio with a star-studded back-up band The Thin Men comprised of the formidable Chris O’Connore [The Phoenix Foundation, Trinity Roots, SJD and more], Mike Hall and Mathias Jordan [Pluto], and Jolyon Mulholland [Gasoline Cowboy, Mulholland] with Steve Roach [Bernie Griffen and the Grifters] and long-time partner/collaborator Kirsten Warner.
The new record sings out like a scream in a quiet night -- Bernie’s characters are hard-living and hard-loving, outlaw and saviour, the lover and the man in trouble -- Bernie Griffen tells tales of adventure, loss and a life hard lived.
Having warmed the stage for such esteemed touring acts as Justin Townes Earle, Little Band of Gold and Eileen Jewell, Griffen is a well-travelled performer who sings his heart-felt and unique brand of blues-based folk music with passion and drive. You’d be wise to head down to the waterhole and be baptised by the big man himself, Bernie Griffen.
