Andy Griggs' latest music project, Naked, not only fulfilled a dream for the singer releasing a stripped down acoustic album, but had also landed him on the initial ballot in multiple categories for the 2014 GRAMMY Awards.
Griggs is listed in four categories: Album of the Year, Best Country Album, Song of the Year ("Me On His Mind") and Best Gospel/Contemporary Christian Music Performance. The recognition came as a surprise and an honor for the singer who spent most of the 90s releasing hit after hit, including his Top 5 single "You Won't Ever Be Lonely."
"I am honored that my music is being recognized by the members of the GRAMMY's (National Recording Academy), and my peers," notes Griggs. "It is a very humbling experience."
Naked is a 13-track album filled with many original tunes from Griggs who recorded then with one microphone, one guitar and in one take. The project also contains songs from artists that influenced him like Waylon Jennings' “Old Timer” and Willie Nelson's “Angel Flying Too Close to the Ground.”
The standout track on Naked is the now GRAMMY-nominated "Me On His Mind" -- a song penned by the singer's brother, Mason Griggs, three weeks before passing away at the tender age of 21.
"What can I say? How could I end an acoustic album without my brother?" Griggs says softly. "I can’t. I was 18 years old, and I walked into the living room late one night to him singin’ a song that he had just written. He said, 'Check this out!' and started over. Luckily, he had a little tape recorder on the coffee table and pushed record. Now my brother wrote some incredible songs in his short life, but this one goes above and beyond. He died three weeks later. It took a long time for me to listen to that cassette tape that now sits tightly in my gun safe. When I play that song, I close my eyes, choke back a tear and smile and think about him singin’ that song to his little brother, not knowing how much it would relate to me later in life."
Naked, as well as his newly released Triple Play Plus (featuring "Don't Let Go," "Lead Me," "Gypsy Road" and "I Love My Dog, My Dog Loves Me"), can now be purchased online through iTunes. Griggs is currently in the studio piecing together a new full-length project which will be released independently in the coming months.
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