Zachary Dale Griffis Junior Recital
April 10, 2026 8:30PM HMUS138
Collinsworth School of Performing Arts
Zachary Dale Griffis, Songwriting
Set List
All songs written by Zachary Dale Griffis
White Water
Moonshine
Bandaids on Bullet-Wounds
Paid to Cry a song about power
Empty Hands
This recital is presented under the direction of Professor Stephen Evans, Thomas Brooks and Emily Benford in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the B.M. in Songwriting.
ARTIST BIOGRAPHY
Zach Griffis is a 21-year-old folk-country artist, songwriter, and poet from Dallas, Texas. He decided he didn't want his stories to stay on a page, so he mustered up the finger strength to play a G-chord and hasn't stopped writing songs since. With an emphasis on lyricism and storytelling, Zach is seeking to put people back in the past for 3 minutes at a time. Zach grew up singing in church and with a love for making cool stuff. After deciding making cars takes too much math, he chose to write instead and fell in love with his pen. Taking inspiration and influence from musicians like Noah Kahan, Kanye West, Zach Bryan, Bob Dylan, Hozier, and Lizzy McAlpine; as well as writers, poets, directors, and actors like C.S. Lewis, Walt Whitman, Christopher Nolan, Matt Damon, and Andrew Garfield. Zach has a unique writing style and perspective that grabs your ear, and a unique voice with which to speak. His upcoming album (currently untitled) blends a modern folk sound, gospel elements, and cowboy chords, to tell stories of loss, and of being lost. (Get hyped for the release in Spring 2027) The titles ask questions that don't have answers, and ones that do. Regardless, Zach loves asking and thinking. His hope is he won't have to ask you to think, but that when you press play, he’ll make you.
PERSONNEL
John Tyler, electric guitar
James Hillary, drums
Javi Alvarez, bass
Anthony Ochoa, keys and BGVs
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Adam Watts:
Jeremy Ward, violin 1
Ariana Pigott, violin 2
Jules Nguyen, viola
Garrett Richardson, cello Javi Alvarez, upright bass
Thank you for helping me understand what art is, and how to find out what's inside me.
Alex Mendoza:
Thank you for believing in me, and for helping me get from stone to stone.
Steve Dahlgren:
Thank you for lending me your perspective, and for teaching me the key to most things is intentionality.