MusicRowPics: Ryan Griffin Gets Honest On EP ‘Sake Of The Summer’

Ryan Griffin

Newcomer Ryan Griffin is no stranger to the country charts; he co-wrote Kelsea Ballerini’s No. 1 hit “Dibs,” alongside Ballerini, Josh Kerr, and Jason Duke.

Now, he’s celebrating the recent release of his own five-song EP, Sake of the Summer, which features his current single, “Back Seats and Burnt CDs.”

The single is the only track on his EP that Griffin didn’t have a hand in writing. Griffin first heard the track during a show at the Bluebird Café, when songwriting friends Josh Kerr and Jordan Reynolds debuted the song.

“As songwriters we share songs constantly. So that happens and I’m sitting at that round I thought I had heard all of their songs but they played it. I was like, ‘Why haven’t I heard this before?’ This song has taken me somewhere for like three minutes. ‘Back Seats and Burnt CDs’ was my childhood.”

The video for the song was originally slated to be shot in East Nashville, but Griffin found the “middle America” feel he was looking for in his own town of Nolensville, Tennessee.

“We drove around town for like three hours. We were shooting at night so it had to be lit well, and Nolensville had the perfect feel. We put the band on the main road. There’s a Napa Auto Parts and Nana’s Diner. That song is so nostalgic so I wanted the video to have that nostalgic vibe.”

Ryan Griffin with MusicRow staffers.

The Florida native has been in Nashville for over 10 years, and attended Belmont University. During his senior year, Griffin worked on the road with Jason Aldean.

During his visit to the MusicRow offices, he also showcased songs including “Woulda Left Me Too,” a brutally honest track he co-wrote with Lisa Carver.

“It’s a true story, and it’s not my shining moment as a human. It was that girl that made me good enough or even slightly good enough to marry my wife when she came around. It’s about that girl that I learned a lesson with. It was one of those songs I never thought would see the light of day. To see it go on Spotify and see it blow up was really cool. I’m so happy that platforms like Spotify and Sirius are getting behind it.”