Jack Grisham

Infobox musical artist 2
Name = Jack Grisham


Background = Musician
Birth_name = Jack Grisham
Alias = Jack Loyd Grisham, Jack Loyd Jones
Born = birth date and age|1961|07|22
Hayward, California, U.S.
Origin = Long Beach, California
Instrument = Vocals, Piano, Sax
Genre = Punk rock, Art Punk, Death Punk, Horror Punk,Goth
Years_active = 1979–present
Associated_acts = T.S.O.L.
Cathedral of Tears
Tender Fury
The Joykiller
[http://www.myspace.com/jackgrishamandthewestcoastdukes Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes]

Jack Grisham is the vocalist for the deathrock/hardcore punk band T.S.O.L. (True Sounds of Liberty). T.S.O.L. was one of the more popular hardcore bands, along with Black Flag, Circle Jerks, and Social Distortion. Grisham has also been involved with the bands the Joykiller, Tender Fury, Cathedral of Tears, and [http://www.myspace.com/jackgrishamandthewestcoastdukes Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes] .

Grisham was a candidate for Governor of California in the 2003 recall election. In 2004, he ran for governor of California on a social democratic platform.

Biography

Early life

Grisham was born in the East Bay area of Northern California. His father, who died in 1984, was a career military man who spent 30 years in the Navy and Coast Guard. Grisham's mother was a military housewife. Grisham was one of five children and has an older sister, two older brothers, and a younger sister.

Grisham credits his older sister, who was part of the hippie subculture (or as he calls it, "Late 60's protest crap"), for exposing him to his first creative influences. As a result, by the time he was six years old, Grisham was reading publications like Fritz the Cat and Zap Comix, and listening to albums by Frank Zappa and the Mothers of Invention, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, and Bob Dylan. Grisham cites the albums We're Only in it for the Money and Let it Bleed as two of his musical influences.

In his early life, Grisham's family moved to Long Beach, California, a suburb of Los Angeles. Growing up, he was a rebellious youth heavily into surfing, skateboarding, and in his words "causing trouble". [ [http://www.ZZZlist.com ZZZlist.com Journalist Ro Hurley] ]

While in high school, he met future T.S.O.L. drummer Todd Barnes through a girlfriend. Grisham and Barnes became friends, and took off with the girlfriend's guitar and amplifier and began playing around with sounds. In the beginning, Grisham claims, "All we did was make a bunch of noise and yell,"Fuck the neighbors" all day.". [ [http://www.ZZZlist.com ZZZlist.com Journalist Ro Hurley] ]

Adult life

While still in his teens, Grisham started experimenting with substances. Soon he became addicted to drugs and alcohol. He recalled, "I was a nut. I used to think I didn’t have a problem because I didn’t shoot up and I didn’t take acid." [ [http://www.zzzlist.com/celebs/Features/JackGrisham/JackGrisham.htm 2008 ZZZlist.com Interview] ]

After several minor tangles with the law stemming from his drug and alcohol abuse, Grisham legally married a 16 year-old girl, which he claims got him on the road to sobriety. When asked how he got sober in a 2008 interview, Grisham said, "Actually, I married an underage girl. I wanted her to get clean. I said I would support her. I was like, "Hey, I’ll support you so you can get help. I’ll go to the meetings too". Then she ended up leaving and I ended up staying." [ [http://www.zzzlist.com/celebs/Features/JackGrisham/JackGrisham.htm 2008 ZZZlist.com Interview] ]

Grisham divorced his first wife and cleaned up his act in 1989. He has been sober ever since. Since then, he remarried to his current wife Maggie. Grisham has two daughters Anastasia and Georgia, and he and his family reside in Huntington Beach, California. When not working on a music project, Grisham is employed as a Personal Recovery Assistant (PAL).

True Sounds of Liberty (T.S.O.L.)

Childhood friends Grisham and Barnes were joined by Ron Emory and Mike Roche to form T.S.O.L. The original line-up of the band was vocalist Jack Grisham, guitarist Ron Emory, bassist Mike Roche, and drummer Todd Barnes.

T.S.O.L.'s initial line-up gained a fans from the hardcore punk, art punk, death punk, horror punk, and goth genres. During his time with T.S.O.L., the band was notorious for their controversial, shocking, and political lyrics.

The original T.S.O.L. broke up in 1983, and Ron Emory and Mike Roche enlisted vocalist Joe Wood (Grisham's brother-in-law at the time) and drummer Mitch Dean into the band, playing hair metal , touring and recording under the name T.S.O.L.

The original T.S.O.L. reformed in 1989, but lost Todd Barnes who died of a brain aneurysm in 1999. [ [http://www.truesoundsofliberty.com/todd.htm Todd Barnes' page on the official TSOL website] ] The original T.S.O.L. (minus Todd Barnes) has been touring and recording steadily since 1999 until present.

The Joykiller

Grisham and Ron Emory formed The Joykiller in 1995 along with Billy Persons (The Weirdos/Gun Club) on bass, Ronnie King on Keyboards, and Chris Lagerborg on drums. The Joykiller released three albums on Epitaph records prior to disbanding in 1998 and had a minor radio hit in Holland with the song "Go-Bang". They later released their "Greatest Non-Hits" in 2005.

Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes

Currently, Grisham leads the pop-alt group [http://www.myspace.com/jackgrishamandthewestcoastdukes Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes] .

Film

Grisham appeared as himself in the movies American Hardcore and the Geza-X film [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0287644 Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)] (he also wrote the title track "Spit Up the Rage"). In the 1984 Penelope Spheeris film Suburbia, he appeared with T.S.O.L. performing "Wash Away" and "Darker My Love".

Politics

In the early years of TSOL, Grisham was outspoken anarchist, and his lyrics were often highly critical of the government. Songs such as "Abolish Government/Silent Majority", "Peace Thru Power", and "Property Is Theft" were standard in TSOL's song sets. Grisham later changed his anti-government stance, stating, "What I realized about anarchy is that we are not responsible enough to be anarchist. There’s no way possible. We’re not responsible enough to be that. That’s a heavy concept." [ [http://www.zzzlist.com/celebs/Features/JackGrisham/JackGrisham.htm 2008 ZZZlist.com Interview] ]

In 2004, Grisham ran for Governor of California on a social democratic platform after incumbent Democratic governor Gray Davis was recalled. [ [http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1475053/20030730/story.jhtml MTV News Article] ] During his campaign, he stressed health care and education, and supported the teaching of religious tolerance in school. [ [http://www.lacitybeat.com/cms/story/detail/?id=259&IssueNum=16 LA City Beat Article] ] Other notable candidates competing for the vacancy left by Gray Davis included Larry Flynt, publisher of "Hustler" magazine, Gary Coleman, actor, Leo Gallagher, comedian, Mary "Mary Carey" Cook, porn star, and the winner of the election, Republican Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Trivia

*Grisham once played saxophone live onstage with the band Butthole Surfers.
* He appeared in the Kottonmouth Kings video for their cover of TSOL's song "Peace Not Greed"." [ [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp1ohxpiQoQ Kottonmouth Kings Video for "Peace Not Greed"] ]
* In keeping with his "Robin Hood" methodology, when T.S.O.L. was touring with the Vans The Warped Tour, Grisham sold his allotted backstage passes for each show on eBay and allowed high bidders to join T.S.O.L. on-stage to sing with the band. The money was all given to charity but the practice was quickly halted by officials for the tour.
* Heavy Metal band Slayer covered two T.S.O.L. songs in a limited release EP released by Sup Pop Records in 1996. Slayer's version of Abolish Government/Superficial Love can be heard on the A-side of the album, and the original T.S.O.L. versions are on the B-side.

Discography

T.S.O.L.

LPs

* "Dance With Me" - (1981)
* "Beneath The Shadows" - (1982)
* "Disappear" - (2001)
* "Divided We Stand" - (2003)
* "Who's Screwin' Who?" - (2005)
* "Live From Long Beach" - (2007)

EPs

* T.S.O.L. EP - (1981)
* Weathered Statues - (1982)

ingles

* "Anticop" - (2001)

Compilations

* Thoughts of Yesterday 1981-1982 - (1988)
* Weathered Statues - (1997)

Bootlegs

* 1980 Demo - (1980) [ [http://www.truesoundsofliberty.com/discography.htm The Original TSOL: Discography ] ]

Movie Soundtracks

* Suburbia (1984) Soundtrack
* American Hardcore: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
* Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)

Filmography

* Suburbia (1984) / a Roger Corman film
* American Hardcore: The History Of American Punk Rock 1980-1986
* Rage: 20 Years of Punk Rock West Coast Style (2001)
* Punks not Dead
* Let it Rock
* Live In Hawaii (DVD) - (2004)
* Live In OC (DVD) - (2001)
* The Early Years / T.S.O.L. Live MVD release

The Joykiller

* The Joykiller (1995) on Epitaph Records
* Static (1996) on Epitaph Records
* Three (1997) on Epitaph Records
* Ready Sexed Go! (2003) on Epitaph Records

Tender Fury

* Tender Fury (Posh Boy) 1988
* Garden of Evil (Triple X) 1990
* If Anger Were Soul, I'd Be James Brown (Triple X) 1991

Cathedral of Tears

* Cathedral of Tears EP (Enigma) 1984

Jack Grisham/Mike Roche/Ron Emory/Todd Barnes

* Live 1991 (Triple X) 1991

TSOL/Slayer

* Abolish Government EP7 (Sub Pop) 1996

External links

Official links

* [http://www.truesoundsofliberty.com/online.htm T.S.O.L official website]
* [http://www.myspace.com/jackloydgrisham Jack on Myspace]
* [http://www.myspace.com/tsol T.S.O.L. on Myspace]
* [http://www.myspace.com/jackgrishamandthewestcoastdukes Jack Grisham and the West Coast Dukes on Myspace]
* [http://www.myspace.com/theofficialjoykiller The Joykiller on Myspace]

Unofficial links

* [http://zzzlist.com/celebs/Features/JackGrisham/JackGrisham.htm Jack's 2008 interview with Ro Hurley from ZZZlist.com]
* [http://www.poolsidechats.com/?page_id=5 Comedian Neil Hamburger's extensive interview with Jack on Tom Green's website]
* [http://teamgoon.com/jack_for_governor/show.htm Jack Grisham for Governor Benefit Show]
*The Orange County Register [http://www.ocregister.com/ocr/2004/10/07/sections/region_state/region_state/article_266765.php article on Grisham's recall race]
* [http://www.trouserpress.com/entry.php?a=true_sounds_of_liberty| Trouser Press synopsis of TSOL personnel transitions]

References