Song Versatility

Cris: There are two very different versions of "Man On The Run". There is the one on the album "Are You With Me?" that you play in concert with Cowboy Mouth, and then there is the version from your "Apples and Onions" solo album that you play in solo shows. Did you intentionally create that song to be so versatile?

John Thomas Griffith of Cowboy Mouth: No. I was trying to find a way to play it live, acoustically, by myself. And I just felt like strumming it really hard didn't hit the nerve like when the band plays it.

Years ago I went on an acoustic duo tour with Fred. I watched the way he took his songs and rearranged them, so that when he played acoustic, he did them a little bit differently. Not every song, but most of them.

I spent the whole second day of the tour in my hotel room rewriting everything in my set. I sat there all day and thought, "How can I redo this song? How can I make this more interesting? How can I make this more poignant?" I rearranged "Everybody Loves Jill", "Man On The Run", "I Know It Shows". It was a turning point in my acoustic life.