Born in Vancouver and raised in Deep River, Ontario, Gerry Griffin first learned to play the harmonica at the age of 7 and then the guitar and vocals at age 15 when he formed his first band. He has been performing as a professional musician ever since.
His extensive band experience includes:
* Cain, original music rock band in the late 1960's and early 70s. Cain was a full time touring band on the same circuit as Whiskey Howl and Crazy Horse; highlights were performing Canada Day on Parliament Hill and opening for Iron Butterfly and The Paul Butterfield Blues Band. Cain was the after-hours house band at Ottawa's legendary "Le Hibou" folk café for over a year.
* The Dah Acme Stomperz and The Jaws of the Flying Carpet. Both these bands were experimental music groups in the seventies and eighties which were heavily influenced by Captain Beefheart and Frank Zappa. They performed both original and cover music.
* The Blue Angels, Ottawa's most popular blues band throughout the eighties. There was always a lineup to see the Blue Angels when they played. They opened for the Nighthawks, Albert Collins, and John Hammond and influenced every up and coming blues musician in the greater Ottawa area.
Gerry's first and the instrument on which he was the most proficient and influencial was the harmonica. He was often requested by touring groups for his tone and for his technique in both live performance and studio sessions. He has performed with many greats, including the Great Speckled Bird, Long John Baldry and Willie Dixon.
He is a multi-instrumentalist and tri-lingual vocalist but mostly he is a songwriter. His heaviest influences are Captain Beefheart, Ry Cooder and the traditional songs of every genre (blues, country, reggae, Spanish and African music). He began performing only his own original material in 1989, first with his band "Rodeo Active" who opened for John Hiatt and then with the band "Griffin" who opened for Big Sugar in 1994.
Gerry recorded his first CD, "Hour Glass", "live off the floor" at the award-winning Lakeside Studios, Clayton, Ontario in July 1995 with Griffin. It was produced by Jeffrey Lesser who has worked with the likes of Barbra Streisand, Lou Reed, The Chieftains with Sting and Sinead O'Connor and The Chieftains with Los Lobos and Linda Ronstadt. All but one of the songs on the album were written during his wrongful incarceration for two and a half years in the Spanish prison system in the early 1990s in North Africa and Spain.
He and "Griffin" showcased privately at UltraSound Showcase Bar in Toronto, August, 1996, and the North American Folk Alliance, Toronto Conference in February, 1997. Their final performance was July 1997 at the National Capital's Astrolab Theatre.
Since July 1997, Gerry has presented his material with his partner, Heather Houston. Together, they perform as a professional Canadian touring act known as the XrAYZ and have played festivals, concerts and club engagements from coast to coast. In April 2001, they returned to the Ottawa area to build a studio and record their new CD.