And what a journey it’s been! One day in Hattiesburg,
MS, in some old office buildings converted to practice rooms, Mike Griffith
and Vincent Hall, were jamming away when they decided it was time for a
break. It will be a break that they will forever remember, for because of it
they were introduced to a guitar player named John Hall. |
John had just moved to Hattiesburg
with his whole family and had been playing with a band a few “offices”
down from ours. We had never heard the sounds that were coming from that
“office” and our curiosity was too much. We had to see what we were
hearing and so we went to check it out. Once we entered the room, the
music stopped and we were introduced. We knew that we wanted to jam with
him, so we asked the other band members if they wouldn’t mind us sitting
in with him for a quick jam. Instantly we all knew that his equipment was
in the wrong “office”, and the rest, as they say, is history. |
But, as usual, life had some bumps in the road for the
newly formed Hall and Griffith Project. After just a short year, and many
killer songs later, the trio had the rug yanked out from under their magic
carpet ride. John and his family, for reasons beyond his control, moved back
to his hometown of Muskegon, MI. Mike and Vincent, while remaining friends,
went down separate musical paths. Vincent would go on to play in Curbfeeler
and move to Atlanta, GA. Mike would move on to play in Famine, play a
supporting role in Vincent’s band Curbfeeler, and eventually move to
Midland, TX. |
After several years, Mike got a
phone call from John. The whole conversation wasn’t all about music, but
they would be planting the seed that would eventually grow into a reunion.
But they were musicians, not gardeners, and that seed would not be
realized for a couple more years. Mike would move to Arlington, TX, then
Anaconda, MT. While in Montana, Mike’s Grandfather was killed in an auto
accident, and he went to take care of his Grandmother in Mahnomen, MN. |
But that seed was not to be deprived of life, and in
the summer of 1999, Mike was finally able to make the move to Muskegon, MI,
and harvest the fruits of their reunion. It didn’t take long for the old
friends to start right where the left off. They eagerly began recording the
material which would eventually become their debut album y. |
While their reunion had its trials
and tribulations, their music was not to be denied, and nearly four years
later, on July 17th, 2002, their musical journey had come to fruition in
the form of Qwestion and the release of their debut album y. |
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