Jared Dustin Griffin is a singer-songwriter with influences coming from Americana, blues, and country music. Raised in the West, he took to the road at an early age, traveling across the country and abroad to carve his voice out of the roots of the American songwriting tradition. He is currently residing in Topeka, Kansas, where he continues his lifelong pursuit of honing his songwriting craft and touring around the Midwest.
He has released several records fronting numerous bands over the past two decades, while extensively touring, both headlining tours and in support of acts such as Emmylou Harris, Ray Wylie Hubbard, William Elliot Whitmore, and Lost Dog Street Band.
Today, Glide is offering an exclusive premiere of “Broken Trail Survival Song,” which marks Jared’s 16th and final single to be released over the last 12 months as he prepares to roll out his sophomore album, The Perserverance of Sisyphus, due out late 2025. Kicking off with a warm wave of strings, the song showcases Griffin’s gruff and gritty vocals that feel like a cross between Ryan Bingham and Tom Waits while still maintaining their own unique sound. The themes of grief and loss are clear in the mournful vocals and melancholy harmonies, as Griffin sings in a way that is simultaneously vulnerable, dark, and hopeful. The sparseness of the song lends itself to the heartfelt vocals, ultimately making for a stirring work of Americana-folk.
Listen to the song and read our conversation with Griffin below:
What is this song about and what inspired it? Why is it important to you and what about the song really speaks to you?
This is a song for my mom. She took her own life back in the spring of 2015, and, while I had written a few songs about that chapter in my life, this is the song that I felt captured the purest emotions I was experiencing.
What was the writing process like for the song?
I wrote this song back in the winter of 2017 while immersed in the western show “Godless.” It was late at night, which, at the time, was when I did most of my writing, and I picked up the guitar and the melody blew into my hands like a dust storm across a prairie. I recorded the guitar part with mumbled words on my phone, and when I woke up the next morning I already had lyrics coming over the horizon, and I finished the song that day.
What was the studio session and recording process like for this song? Any great stories from the creation process?
I never thought I’d record this song since I couldn’t make it through without crying. When I was in the studio in 2021 cutting my last album, “Battle Cry Mercy,” I had a few hours left on the last day, and I was going through my catalog of finished but unrecorded songs. I found a few, and I recorded them, and I kept thinking about this song. I decided to see if I could get it down, mostly for posterity’s sake. I remember taking two passes at it and feeling completely spent, and ending my session there. I’m not sure I’ve played the song since.
Are there any lyric lines that you really love or that really are important to you? What do you feel makes them resonate?
The line, “You’ve seen your share of death/Well Honey so have I/All the things they said would kill us we survived.”
These lines mean a lot to me because my mom experienced a lot of trauma when her mom committed suicide when she was 9. My mom struggled with addiction and depression her entire life, and, as a kid, this impacted how I was raised. These lyrics encapsulate the generational trauma we both suffered, and brings in the lesson learned from the Old West, that we all survive something, until we don’t.
If listeners can take away one thing from having heard this song, what do you hope that is?
I hope that when anyone who has lost someone they loved hears this song, they don’t feel so alone in their grief. It’s a chance to mourn, to realize they have survived, and in some way to understand that grieving is something we all share.
How does this song fit in among others that you have recorded? How is it similar or different? What made you want to release this song as a single?
This song is a stand-alone single and not attached to an album, but thematically there are overlaps with loss and grieving. I never thought I would release this song, but it is the 10-year anniversary of my mom’s passing, and I thought releasing this song would be a way I could honor her memory.
What is coming up next for Jared Dustin Griffin?
I’ve recently completed my forthcoming album, “The Perseverance of Sisyphus.” It’s my most ambitious record, and I’m excited for its potential. I am getting some tours organized for this year, and, after a winter focused on writing, I am excited to get on the road again.
