“A year ago, we would’ve been drinking whiskey right now,” says Griffin Holtby inside his home studio. 

The 24-year-old rock and roller grew up in Preston Hollow with his adopted family, who took him in at 8 months from his Russian birth mother. At a young age, Holtby began taking vocal lessons. He realized his talent after performing Bridge Over Troubled Water at a local event for child musicians.

“By the end of it, all these women were crying,” he says. “For me, that solidified that I was good at it. I didn’t realize the importance of that moment until I got older.”

From that day on, Holtby didn’t look back. His parents enrolled him in School Of Rock and Zounds Sounds as he continued to build up his range, learn guitar and figure out his sound.

Around 13, alcohol was introduced to Holtby’s life by an older teenager.

“I invited it,” he says. “It’s rock ‘n’ roll. It was like, this is what I’m supposed to do.”

As a freshman at St. Mark’s, Holtby’s vice only worsened.

“I was bringing vodka into class in water bottles,” he says. “I was smoking cigarettes on campus in this little corner I found.”

At 15, his music career appeared to be flourishing. He released a four-song first EP, Infinite, in 2015,  just as his body and mental health reached a nadir. 

The following year, Holtby was put into a number of rehabilitation facilities, where he grappled with his addictions. When he returned, he enrolled in Parish Episcopal School, only to return to his old ways soon after. 

After graduation, Holtby opted not to attend Berklee School of Music, taking a job as the music director of Stan’s Blue Note in Lower Greenville as he began recording with a new band called Fifth Phoenix. During that time, he auditioned for season 20 of American Idol and made it through to the Hollywood round. 

“You have to look at yourself in the mirror and say ‘You are the culprit,’” he says. “Then your reality starts to shift.”

Nearly a decade removed from his initial cry for help, Holtby’s priorities have changed. 

“I’m someone who wants to make being nice look really cool,” Holtby says.