Meet Stephy Leigh Griffin | Music Educator/Performer/Songwriter

We had the good fortune of connecting with Stephy Leigh Griffin and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Stephy Leigh, putting aside the decision to work for yourself, what other decisions were critical to your success?
Most people would not call me successful according to the conventional definition of success, which seems to imply having a career that pays more than a livable wage. I am not successful in that regard, but I wake up happy and proud of the life I have made for myself as a musician. I have one decision to thank for that. When a new 4th grade student named Bri walked into my public music classroom after school one day, red-faced and out of breath, she said, “Miss Griffin, will you teach me private music lessons?” I spent 16 years saying no to scores of kids and and parents who asked me the same question. But the thought of staying after school 1 minute longer than I had to was not even fathomable. It was always a hard no. I loved teaching in the elementary school, but as a full-time teacher by day, busy songwriter and performer at night, I was exhausted all the time. Fresh to Arizona from West Virginia, Bri was a hot mess. She smelled like pee, had dirty hair, walked with a limp, had a crooked back and a lisp and no friends. But she loved music. She needed music. And I didn’t know it then but I needed her. It didn’t take long for Bri to become the best songwriting partner I’ve ever had.

It didn’t take long before I was ready to recruit more future writers and performers and leave the public sector for good. The school system changed into something I stopped believing in, prioritizing test scores over real human connection and creativity. And as soon as we were forced into teaching music through a screen, I said eff this, let’s go Bri.

I live with my dog in a tiny cabin on 1 acre in the boonies in Prescott working as a private music teacher and performing musician. And when I’m not doing that, which is also a significant amount of time, I am on the trails in the sun, throwing a ball for my dog and not regretting it for a second.

Bri died in her sleep last November. She was 14.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
The hardest part about being a musician and a songwriter for me is every part that is not playing music or writing it down. When a song comes calling, everything else just takes a back seat knowing that if this song isn’t written it will be trapped in the purgatory of my mind or someone else’s. When I’m making the art, I’m not posting about it or sharing it with anyone yet, nor am I responding to emails or paying bills or networking or planning a social media launch campaign for my new song that’ll be droppin and poppin on Friday. No, that’s just not me. It can be difficult to feel relevant in a tik-tok 10-seconds-at-a-time day in age where “original” music can be written by a machine, or likes can be bought and sold for a few bucks. I’m so turned off by that world and I’m ok with sucking at it. Give me a front porch, an eye ball, a campfire, a typewriter, a trailhead parking lot, or a curb – that’s the kind of venue I’m after these days. Call me disheartened or jaded but I just know that the digital world will stop being cool once people realize that it’s breaking our collective heart and spirit one click at a time.

Keeping a band together in a small town? Hard. Convincing a venue or a festival that’s never heard of you to book you, based only on one email correspondence and a few links? Hard. Staring at a phone trying to edit an IG reel (because apparently that’s what this has come to) instead of chopping some wood for the fire or writing a note to someone I love, on actual paper, which is what I’d rather be doing, hard. I don’t want to play at bars for tourists anymore. I don’t want to rely on social media for my worth and I refuse to spend another penny on lettuce that comes in plastic boxes.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If this city adventure doesn’t fall on one of the 51 days where the daytime temp in Phoenix is below 70, then we’d just drive due North to the mountains and never look back. But if so, I’d pick up Talya at Sky Harbor and we’d stop in the Coronado district, grab a good morning bloody mary from the Coronado, some vegan pastries from Noma, lunch to-go from Green (the original location in Tempe), followed by a quick jaunt to Luxie, the vintage clothing shop next door to Green. If there was a decent show in the evening at Crescent or an early 2000s hip hop dance party at the Van Buren, maybe we’d stay in the valley for the day. Most of that would be spent outside rollerblading the canal, riding at South Mountain or playing with Dottie at one of the fancy dog parks with actual grass and water. But inevitably, after passing over 200 golf courses on our tour de valley of the sun, I’d probably just freak out and drive immediately out of this city, which is a desert where no human should ever have settled and I will never understand why we are still ok with this.

Natural beauty, fresh air, dogs, acoustic guitars and the stars…

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
I can usually get right up to the edge of most cliffs on my own. Just one little shove in the right direction from someone who thinks I matter is usually all it takes to push me over. Like Theron Wall for example. Over a decade ago, after hearing me play, he not only suggested I record some songs, he guided me through the entire process, from the studio to production to the players. I had recorded before but it wasn’t my record, at least it didn’t feel like mine. Being in the studio environment and watching a bare bones song I wrote on my mountain bike become a masterpiece was addicting. I couldn’t have found that passion without Theron. He’s still the one I trust with my music more than anyone.

And now, in the mixing stages of my new record, I have a lady named Debbie Dunbar to thank. I could say my band teacher from 5th grade through high school, or name-drop a college professor or the great writers before me, but Debbie gave me something much more practical. Money. One night after a show she said hey you need some money to record a new record? Me: Um, yes please.

Website: www.stephyleighgriffin.com

Instagram: @stephthegriff; @dia_de_la_dottie

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stephyleighgriffin/

Youtube: @stephyleighgriffinmusic

Image Credits
Blushing Cactus Photography Prescott, AZ