He’s toured the country and opened up for the likes of John Mellencamp and the Cranberries. He’s recorded with Mike Campbell and Benmont Tench, members of the seminal rock band Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers. He’s performed on national TV shows like the CBS Sunday Morning Show.
Still, for all his success, singer-songwriter Griffin House hasn’t forgotten about his roots. Born and raised in Springfield, House recently performed a concert for his hometown via Facebook, livestreaming from his Nashville home.
The concert was a fundraiser for the Second Harvest Food Bank of Clark, Champaign, and Logan Counties.
More than 2,000 people tuned in for the event, which was streamed over Facebook on Tuesday, April 28.
About $1,000 was raised during the course of the 40 minute-long concert, says Chris Schutte, vice president of destination marketing and communications for the Greater Springfield Conventions & Visitors Bureau. The visitors bureau is under the umbrella of the Greater Springfield Chamber of Commerce, the organization officially responsible for the event.
"We had a great time," Schutte writes via email.
"Griff acknowledged a number of commenters on the stream and took requests which was cool. All in all a good night, and a nice diversion!"
In an additional, but unrelated, fundraiser also for the Second Harvest Food Bank is Horton Hobbs and his two daughters.
Though Hobbs is the vice president of economic development for the Chamber, a series of off-the-cuff livestreamed karaoke sessions he’s held with his daughters have proven to become big hits among family and friends.
So much so that the Hobbs' family's unofficial fundraisers have collected about $15,000 in donations for Second Harvest.
"I just took it upon myself to do these," Hobbs says. "It’s good to get people’s minds off being stuck at home. So let’s do these at our house and make fools of ourselves in front of our friends."
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