Rescued, Redeemed, Forgiven

Howard Gripp 

Howard Grip's journey through music and faith is a powerful testament to resilience and redemption. As a Wisconsin-based singer-songwriter, Howard shares his life experiences, including struggles with addiction, depression, and the challenges of balancing family and a rock and roll lifestyle. His latest EP, "Rescued, Redeemed, Forgiven," highlights the theme of salvation and the constant presence of God's grace in our lives. Throughout the episode, Howard reflects on his transformation from performing rock music to creating heartfelt Christian songs that resonate with those facing difficulties. Join Pastor Bob Thibodeau as he delves into Howard's inspiring story and the impact of his music on listeners seeking hope and connection in their faith.

CONTACT INFORMATION: 

Email:  HowardGrippMusic@Yahoo.com 

Website:  https://howardgrippmusic.com/home 

Mentioned in this episode:

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Welcome to the Kingdom Crossroads podcast with Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

Pastor Bob conducts personal interviews with Christian influencers from around the globe, helping Christian authors, recording artists, CEOs, entrepreneurs, nonprofit leaders, and yes, pastors and ministry leaders to get the word out about what they are doing to impact the world with the gospel.

Our podcast has been rated in the top 12% of all podcasts in the world by listennotes.com so you know your message will be heard.

Now here is your host with today's interview, Pastor Bob Thibodeau.

Hello everyone everywhere.

Pastor Robert Thibodeau here.

Welcome to the Kingdom Crossroads podcast today.

We're so blessed that you're joining us today.

We have a very special guest that I have been looking forward to having on the program and I know you are going to truly enjoy our conversation today with a man whose music just does not serve as a source of entertainment, but serves as the one constant in his life and blesses other people in the process.

Praise God.

Howard Grip's journey started when he was just playing drums down in the basement at the ripe old age of six.

And I bet his parents just enjoyed that noise.

I mean music, praise God.

But his life is one shared through his music.

The triumphs, the trials, the challenges, the victories, the pain and the hope.

Howard Grip is a Wisconsin based singer songwriter who has been capturing hearts with his authentic, heartfelt lyrics and worshipful sound.

Known for his vulnerability and passion for God's message, Grip has steadily grown his fan base with each and every release.

His music offers a compelling blend of personal storytelling and faith, inviting listeners to experience God's love and redemption in their own lives.

Praise God.

And on October 18, he released his latest single, Rescued, Redeemed, Forgiven, Amen.

And it'll be available on all of the streaming platforms by the time you're hearing this recording today.

Praise God.

With all that being said, help me.

Welcome to the program Power Grip.

Howard.

Thank you for taking the time to join us today, brother.

Yeah, I really appreciate being on.

I love the intro.

That was awesome.

Well, the first question I always start with is this.

Other than that brief information I just shared, can you tell us in your own words, who is Howard Grip?

Well, I'm a husband, father, uncle.

I've got seven great seven grandkids.

I've got.

How many kids do I have?

Six?

Five?

Five.

Three boys and two stepdaughters.

And I am an IT director during the day for a potato company that makes chipping potatoes for Frito Lay.

And music is inside of my entire body like I Said I've played music since I was 6 years old.

And you're exactly right.

You know, thank God I had parents that let me beat on drums in the basement of a big old house that echoed everywhere.

Otherwise I don't know where we'd be.

So.

Amen.

Yeah.

So you started out wanting to be a Ringo star on the drums, right?

I did, yeah.

It might have been more like an Alex Van Halen, but yeah.

Yeah.

So when I was six, I started playing drums.

Well, I had to take violin for a year.

That was the rule for the school.

Oh, because you had to.

They wanted to learn how to read music.

Well, I.

I never accomplished that feat, but I did get through the violin for a year and I got to play drums.

And when I was young, my brother, he plays drums, he was a little older than I am and he gave me his.

An old Ludwig set that I got to put in my parents basement and man, I beat on those things all the time.

That, that's all I did, you know, I didn't do sports in school.

I.

Jazz band, concert band, marching band, you know, drum corps, the whole nine yards.

So that's.

Yeah, my mom's very musical.

She's sang in the choir, at church.

She played the big, big, huge pipe organ, you know.

Oh yeah.

We got the musical side of her family through us, so.

Amen.

Amen.

So your mom kind of encouraged you to follow your musical passion, right?

Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, More than that, I guess so.

When I was 16, I played my first.

It wasn't a bar, but it was a.

It was a venue that, you know, we'd put a rock band together and.

And I was 16 and that's what I wanted to do.

And in order for me to play some of these places, my parents had to sign off saying, yes, he can come into these places and play.

And they would come out and hear us.

My mom and dad would come out all the time and hear us.

My brother and I actually played in a band together for a while.

So that was super cool.

So, yeah, very supportive and a lot of encouragement and.

Yeah, that's good.

That's good.

From what I understand, when you started professionally, had some success, even at one point touring Europe and stuff.

And we talked before the recording.

I know that's a hard gig to do.

We talked about my uncle, Johnny Powers, he, back in the 70s and 80s, he was doing that and he told us it's rough.

You weren't doing Christian back then, you were doing rock, right?

No, I was doing rock.

And most of my gigging was in the States.

I had a lot of.

I cut a CD back in mid to late 90s, got a lot of good airplay and good traction over in Europe.

Did most of my touring and playing around the States.

It was crazy.

I mean, when it started, I.

I lived in my car for a while and I.

I also got married very young and had a child very young.

So that was.

That was tough to balance, you know, the dream that I had and, and, you know, the, the marriage and raising a child and it was tough.

It was.

It was super tough.

And, you know, I don't know, that's kind of where my testimony comes in.

Is.

Is in there a ways.

Yeah.

I'm not sure where you want to get into that, but keep going here, you're so.

You're on it right now.

When I was young, I went to church.

My mom worked at the church.

So my daycare, or whatever you want to call it during the summer was at church.

Lots of Bible camps.

You know, the first place I played public outside of school, on drums, was at church.

I played drums and Godspell.

We did Godspell at our church, so I got to play drums for that.

And then when I was 16, I started playing rock music.

And that's, you know, I wanted to be a huge big star like, you know, like Van Halen and all the other big stars that had thousands of people come and see him rich and doing whatever they wanted.

So when I was 17 and a half, I think I moved out.

And, you know, I knew Jesus with my mom from going to church when I was young, all of us kids went to church with my mom.

And, you know, I learned about Jesus and, you know, I think I said the prayer, but I never really had that personal relationship with him, you know, and when I moved out, went out on my own, I went out on my own.

It was.

I wanted to trust what I thought was right and follow what I thought was right.

Make my decisions on my own and follow my path.

And, you know, I would pray, but it would be if something was wrong, right.

Or if I needed something, right.

Not going to listen to me at that point because I didn't have that relationship with him.

And I did all that.

And I had.

I was married young, I had three kids, and I.

I lived the life I wanted to live, right.

What I wanted to live in my way, not even worrying about what my family was, Right.

Yeah.

I mean, so, I mean, got into the drugs and the alcohol and, you know, women and partying and the Whole nine yards.

And it eventually cost me my marriage.

Rock and roll lifestyle.

Rock and roll lifestyle.

It's not what it's all cracked up to be.

That's right.

But, you know, I.

I don't know, maybe 16, 17 years ago, the marriage was really bad, and.

Because I had an affair during.

During my span of me, me, me.

And then just everything else kind of got worse, and I got strained with my kids and super.

I had some pretty bad depression I was battling.

And one Sunday morning, I woke up.

I'd been going to this church off and on with my neighbors for a little bit, and I woke up on Sunday morning.

So this is it.

I'm done.

I'm gonna jump in my truck, drive really fast and hit something really hard and be done.

I got up and I drove, and I ended up in that church parking lot on Sunday morning.

I thought, well, okay, that.

That might be a sign.

Maybe God heard something, you know, so I'm gonna go in, I'm gonna get right with God, and then I'm gonna go take care of what I'm going to take care of.

Yeah.

Inside that church.

And I just remember it was full.

Probably 300, 400 people in there.

I don't know, it was pretty full, but it felt like I was alone, you know, And I kind of went to the pews in the back and our seats in the back, and I.

I just lost it.

I cried and I asked God to ask my family to forgive me for what I was going to do.

And, you know, and then it kind of turned more like, forgive me for everything I've done.

And.

And help me, you know, if.

If this is not what's supposed to happen, then help me see that it's not supposed to happen.

And it was almost like.

And nobody did, but it was almost like somebody put their arms around me, said, it's not your time.

And I accepted.

That's when my relationship, Jesus began.

And I walked out of that church and I drove home.

And yeah, you know, it.

It wasn't like, okay, you're.

You're saved, and now everything's good.

Now it got.

It got bad, you know, I'm in marriage and eventually ended.

But six, six, seven years ago, maybe.

Maybe seven, eight years ago, I got divorced.

And maybe a year later, I met my now current wife.

And it was.

I was very specific when I was looking for someone.

I wanted someone that was strong in their faith because I had found Jesus, but I didn't.

I didn't know what to do with that, you know?

Yeah.

And she got me.

Michelle got me going back to church.

And three years ago, we became a member of a church.

So I've never done that before.

I joined a worship team.

I'd never done that before.

That was terrifying.

Never done that before.

You know, I didn't know any of that music when I started.

So you gotta try out.

Try out, really?

Okay, so learn these songs.

And I don't know any of these songs, and, you know, they play a little different, and the chord structures are different, and.

But so I would work.

They.

They allowed me to come onto the team and.

And we would play.

You know, they give us songs like a Friday night, and then the next Thursday we'd practice in a Sunday.

We'd have worship team.

Man, I don't think I've ever worked that hard in my life because I didn't know the songs, and it was like, I've got to try to cram all this stuff in.

But, man, it's just been a.

It's been a huge blessing.

And then probably two years ago to where my shift to Christian music came, because I've been playing music.

I took a few years off.

I was turned 35, and I hadn't made it big.

And it was like, okay, I'm gonna hang it up.

Well, musicians, if you're a true musician, it's in your bones, and it just.

It creeps its way back out, and you got to get back playing again.

So I joined another band and ended up doing acoustic duos with.

I kind of moved out front when I did my cd, learned how to play guitar a little bit, and I started doing acoustic duos with a couple of people.

And so I've been doing that up.

Actually.

I'm just about done with that.

But two years ago, I heard God telling me, hey, I want you to do something different with your music, and I want you to do it to glorify me.

So we went to a festival up here called Life Fest.

And again, I didn't know any of the music, but I was.

I was.

It was so cool.

Just three days of Christian music and rock music, and it was like, this is.

This is Christian music.

Huh?

That's pretty cool.

So I'm.

I'm kind of into this now, you know, because when I went to church, it was all hymns.

So I got done with Life Fest that weekend, and I thought, I'm gonna do something, and life kind of got in the way.

And then we went a year ago, and it was almost like God saying, you know what?

I don't know why you're not listening to me.

But I'm gonna, I'm gonna, I'm gonna use Ben Fuller as a vessel.

I'm gonna have him help you get that kick you need.

And I heard Ben Fuller and I don't know, man, it.

I.

I think I heard God that time and, and I listened to Ben and it was like, man, I'm gonna do something this time.

And I wrote my first song that weekend and my first Christian song that weekend and recorded a couple in Nashville and thought that was going to be it.

And I met a guy named John Chisholm out of Nashville and he taught me how to write Christian music because again, I was used to writing a rock.

Now I can't get the rock out of me.

As you probably heard, some of my songs won't come out.

I've just, I've just, I've kneeled into that, you know, it's just the way it's going to be.

Yeah.

And I went through an artistry development course with him.

And in April we cut my first Christian ep.

So that's been out, started in January, July, and the songs are doing really well.

I'm.

I'm really surprised.

And God has taken me on a musical journey in the last 13, 14 months.

Has been beyond my wildest dreams of even when I was 20, trying to do it.

I seen on your website that you took this Christian songwriting course in Nashville.

I didn't even know those things existed.

I didn't either.

Tell us about that.

How.

How that changed your perspective on songwriting.

Oh, it was, you know, I mean, I've written.

I hadn't written for a long time.

Right.

I wrote when I was younger and then I cut that EP or cut that CD back in the 90s.

And I wrote some stuff that too, kind of off and on, but, you know, is your typical stuff when you're a kid and you're in a rock band and it's about partying, it's about women, it's about breakups.

And, you know, I don't want to say it's meaningless because that's probably the wrong word, but it's.

I know, it's just different.

So I just did a Google search, just like you were talking about before we got on here.

I did a Google search.

I want to find a Christian person in Nashville that can teach me how to write Christian songs.

And John Chisholm was the first one that popped up.

And then CS Nashville, Christian songwriters.

And he had this course, and it was an eight week course and Every.

Every week, we'd write a song.

You had to write a song.

Good, bad, or ugly.

You had to write a song, a Christian song.

You know, you could use verses out of the Bible.

You could use psalms, you could use life experiences of how God changed you or.

And, I mean, the first couple songs, they were okay, you know, but it was.

It was different because it was such a different way to write.

And it took me a little bit to wrap my head around that type of writing, because now I was really writing about personal.

Yeah.

Things about me.

And now I'm going to take those personal things and I'm going to share them with you.

Who.

And I'm gonna share things that are not pretty about me, you know, and as I took that course and as he.

He taught me how to write in those ways, it really became apparent that, you know, I feel that God wants me to write music to help people, you know, to bring him to him, but also to help people from all of the.

All of the bad things or all of the tough things that I've gone through in my life.

I mean, I've got.

Because I'm thinking.

When God told me that, I'm thinking, I'm kind of old for this, aren't I?

What am I doing really?

You want me to try this now?

But, you know, I think it's because of the life experience that I've got.

And I also think that I write a little differently than my music's.

A little different than like, maybe normal mainstream Christian music is.

It's not as heavy as Skillet, but I think it's a little heavier than the normal mainstream Christian music.

So I think I have an opportunity to reach people that maybe normally wouldn't even attempt to listen to Christian music, because they might go, oh, this is rock.

Kind of like what I said, this is Rocco.

I like this.

What's he singing about?

What's he.

Listen there.

The music draws them in, then they hear the message, Right?

Yeah.

Yeah.

So I think that's.

So.

I mean, I learned a lot from.

From John.

In fact, I'm still with him.

He's.

He's my executive producer now, and he's my publishing company, and I got a.

He's my label.

And it's just from.

I did a Google search, and he was personable enough that he called my wife and I and we sat down and we had a long conversation, and he didn't have to do that.

You know, there's a lot of people in.

I'm not just going to say Nashville Because New York, Nashville and la, that's all the big play.

They want your money, you know.

And I think God steered me to him because he's trustworthy, he's a Christian, and he's very solid in his faith.

So, yeah, the writing thing's been.

It's been awesome.

It's.

And then the first couple times I played, it was tough to sing some of those songs.

It was terrifying because, again, I was laying my soul as opposed to talking about the girl that broke up with me four weeks ago.

You know, I was laying my soul in front of people I had no idea who they even were.

So very cool.

Amen.

I believe I read where you're doing a music video right now.

Yeah, when I hear music video, my mind goes back to mtv, TV and things like that.

But I have a feeling that's not the path that you're taking.

Share a little bit about your music videos.

That's not the path, but it's a.

It's a video just like that.

Right.

But I'm.

I'm hoping that it's a music video that will.

I don't want to call it a cliffhanger, but there's a little surprise at the end, so I don't want to give it too much away, but first, I've always wanted to do that my whole life.

I did a.

I did a smaller one with a company here in town just for a music contest that I was in because I had to have a music video for that.

And so I shot something a little cheaper with him, and he did a great job, and it turned out really well and worked exactly for what I wanted to do.

But this.

This is like a full production thing with, you know, we had a crew of 10 or 11 people.

We shot for two days.

And it's.

It's the song hello, It's Me, which.

So that's kind of talks about.

Kind of what we just talked about.

I started as, you know, with.

With my faith.

I kind of left my faith and went out on my own for a while.

And then I came back and said, hey, God, hello, it's me.

I'm back.

I'm not going anywhere anymore.

And that's.

That's.

The video we did is on.

And there's some.

There's.

There's a pretty cool twist at the end for it.

But, yeah, it's.

It's a lot of fun.

We just did that last weekend.

It's a lot of fun.

Oh, praise God.

Amen.

Yeah.

And I also read you mentioned briefly, I want to go a little bit more into that.

That you finished in the top ten in the World Songwriting Contest for three consecutive course first.

Congratulations on that.

Yeah.

Share a little bit about that experience.

Yeah, that's.

That's.

I don't know why I can't quite crack that number one, but, you know, just.

Just to.

Just to be recognized at all.

It's telling me that God has me on the right path.

Right.

I'm doing something right.

And, and I.

Like I said, I, I.

God opens doors, and right now I'm.

I'm barreling through them.

I'm running through as fast as I can.

He's also close some doors I've had to walk away from.

And as tough as that is, I've learned that I'm going to trust whatever he's got for me, you know, and those are just a couple of.

I.

I've entered a lot of contests, and that one has.

I've entered that a few times.

And.

And it's.

It's.

I think it's just helping me realize that, yes, God's got me on the right path.

Amen.

Amen.

What kind of reception are you receiving from your recent releases?

Streams have been a little crazy.

I mean, not amen crazy for me, I guess.

I mean, I think when I Flip released my first two songs, well, I guess When I Pray.

When I Pray did pretty good.

He Rescued Me did okay.

It's just like these, and it might be because they're coming out four weeks apart, you know, that the momentum staying there because, you know, you know the world nowadays.

Okay, that's good.

Click.

Okay.

Next.

Next.

Next.

So, you know, the EP drops on the 8th, and that's going to probably last about four or five, six weeks, and then I'll probably start seeing some of this.

I.

I'm expecting, I guess, kind of how it worked the first time, but it's doing really well.

I'm getting some good feedback from it.

I've had a couple labels contact me off of it, so.

Praise God.

Amen.

Doing pretty well.

Yeah.

So are you touring now or planning on going back out on tour?

That's my goal.

I've got.

So I got an EP release concert.

My church has let me have that a week from Friday.

I'm bringing three of the guys up from Nashville that recorded on the ep and we're going to do a concert at my church.

The video is supposed to come out the next week, and so is my ep.

So I haven't had enough material in the Christian arena to really go out and try to book things.

But I think now that I have that together, I'll be able to package that up.

I have a whole bunch of festivals I want to hit and, and I'm willing to go anywhere.

And I do play.

I don't play a lot right yet because I just started playing out in Christian venues, but in the middle of Wisconsin there's not a lot.

So I'm driving like 3, 4, 5 hours to play a gig for an hour and a half.

But that's where God's got me going right now.

So that's where I'm going to go.

Yeah, my intention is to go out.

And I loved it.

To her.

Amen.

Amen.

At the time that we're doing this recording right now, your, your songs rescued, redeemed and forgiven.

They're in pre order mode, but by the time we publish this episode and the people listening to us right now, you'll be that album be released.

So share a little bit more about the album.

How you see it impacting the body of Christ.

Well, it, the EP is really about salvation.

I mean, it's, it may be about my salvation, but I know there's thousands and thousands of people that live every one of those songs, you know, So I, I wanted to base the first EP around the gracious graciousness of God to be our salvation and to pull us out of places that we never thought we'd ever would have come out of.

Right.

And, and being able to just.

I don't know, it's just.

I'm hoping that it helps people.

I'm hoping that it reaches people.

I'm hoping that they hear the salvation in there and they hear the love of Jesus that I have found.

One song in particular in there is called Slip and Fall.

That's the last one that will come out and we will.

That's really about, you know, we, as Christians, you know, a lot of people think, oh, you're a Christian now, you're saved, you, your life is great.

You're not going to have any pain or you're, you won't be in any trouble.

And, well, that's as far from the truth as you get.

We're still all human, you know.

Just because we have found our faith in Jesus Christ doesn't mean that we're not going to look what he went through.

Why should we expect not to go through things, right?

So it's really about slipping and falling and how you get back up asking for forgiveness and, and God accepting you right back into the fold, you know, So I mean, it's.

I think they're realistic songs that people can relate to.

Amen.

Amen.

Howard, this has been so interesting and I'm excited for your upcoming release and just blessed that you came on the program today to share with us all about it.

If someone has a question or would like more information, maybe want to invite you out to their church or their gathering, how can they get in touch with you?

HowardGripmusic.com is my website and all of my socials are Howard Grip music.

And I'm.

I'm like everywhere.

Amen.

I'll put links all this down the show notes below.

Great folks.

As you heard, life hasn't been easy for Howard, who's had to deal with, as you heard, divorce, addictions, depression, spiritual battles.

But as believers, we're not promised an easy life.

Just like he said, we all face difficulties, but we never have to face them alone.

Jesus is always right there with us.

Howard Griffith's music is not merely melodies and lyrics.

It's a source of strength for those fighting battles and an encouragement for those who who may have lost their hope.

Connecting hearts and souls through music is the goal of his ministry.

His songs are meant for people struggling with their faith and those going through tough seasons in their lives as well.

His music serves as a constant reminder that even though we might fail and fall very low, God promises to extend his hands and help raise us up.

Amen.

Praise God.

Drop down the show notes, reach out to Howard Grip.

Go to the website, order your copy.

Of his new release.

Rescued, Redeemed, Forgiven.

Invite Howard out to your church or a special event that Amen.

Be a blessing.

Praise God.

Howard, once again, I want to thank you for coming on and taking the time to join us today.

Man, I do appreciate it.

Appreciate it.

Thanks a lot folks.

That's all the time we have for today.

Howard Griffin, myself, Pastor Bob reminding Be blessed in all that you do.

Thank you for listening to today's episode of the Kingdom Crossroads podcast.

Please subscribe to our podcast so you can be notified when another episode is.

To share their messages with the world, please visit our website@www.podcastersforchrist.com.

that web address again is www.podcastersforchrist.Com.

for more information, until next time, be blessed in all that you do.