Woodbury Native Draws Musical Inspiration From Military Experience

Woodbury native Matthew Griswold has seen the atrocities of war, and some of the memories he has from serving in Iraq have served as inspiration for the 28-year-old musician.

Griswold enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2003 and spent a total of five years in Europe, Kuwait and Iraq, serving with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team/Task Force 135 and on a security transition team in Iraq, where he worked with former members of the Sheik Sitars personal militia.

Griswold lived, ate and fought with Iraqi forces, away from the protection of an American installation for more than a month during a violent frontline operation called “The Battle of Ramadi,” a bloody 2006 battle for control the capital of the Al Anbar Govenorate in western Iraq.

During combat, numerous members of the Iraqi militia died in an explosion. Army personnel Griswold served with also died or were injured during the war.

Griswold has been writing and performing music since the age of 15—his musical influences include Bob Dylan, Bruce Springsteen and the Dave Matthews Band—but he took about a three-year hiatus when serving in the military.

“I put music on hold. I didn’t take it seriously anymore,” he said. “Sometimes I’d play in the barracks, but I didn’t write any songs for about three years. It was kind of a weird transition for me because I was so active up until I joined the Army.”

Returning to Music

When Griswold was honorably discharged in 2008, he spent some time in Nashville before returning to Minnesota.

“I started working with people tied to the publishing industry (in Nashville), and somebody told me that I should perform my own songs and not just focus on trying to write country songs or anything for anyone else,” he said.

He noted Minneapolis had a strong music scene at the time, so he decided to move home to perform, write and record. Griswold now lives in St. Paul.

“Ever since then, I have been pretty much playing since 2009 at nightclubs, theaters and other places,” he said.

Some of Griswold’s music centers on his time in Iraq, and, in a way, his music serves as a release to deal with some of those memories.

“Ramadi took such a big toll physically, mentally and emotionally,” he said. “It was a lot to go through. My way of coping with it was through music.”

That coping process has lead to the creation of songs like “Crazy,” in which Griswold croons about how soldiers who come back from war can sometimes be ostracized for having problems transitioning back to civilian life.

The song was originally improvised from an experience he had while serving in Iraq, when he strummed his guitar for a group of Iraqi soldiers and belted out a few cobbled together vocals.

Another song by Griswold, “The Day it Rained,” is based on a day when members of his platoon were struck by a car bomb.

“I was OK, but I had to render medial aid to them,” he said. “I remember it rained in the desert that day—that hadn’t happened the entire time we were there. That’s the first real time I sat down and started writing again.”

Music as Therapy

Since returning from Iraq, Griswold has been volunteering at the Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System and the MacPhail Center for Music as a presenter, teacher and adviser.

As a result of the songs he has written and recorded, Griswold has been asked to speak at the American Music Therapy Convention in November in Atlanta, Ga.

“I see it as an opportunity to speak about (using music as therapy) to the right people—professionals who can medically use music to help people,” he said.

Griswold has spoken at the Great Lakes Music Therapy Conference about the same topic.

“I gave them some insight on how I use music to cope with some of the pain I had and how I used the music as a form of healing,” he said.

Ideally, Griswold said he’d like to continue making a living as a musician, get more of his songs licensed, and expose an array of listeners to his music.

“I’d like to continue writing songs anyway I can,” he said. “As long as I feel like I’m contributing something, I’ll be more than happy.”

For those who would like to see Griswold perform live, he’ll be at Highland Fest July 17.

Click here to view the music video for “Crazy.”