Tim Griffin was dragooned into music at age sixteen for a high school musical, but found he was meeting more girls onstage than in the D&D Club, so he stuck with it. A few years later, he was introduced to filk by an uncle who wrote science fiction, and he was hooked. Tim mostly paid his way through college and graduate school as a performing musician, then brought the music to work with him as an elementary teacher in Los Angeles. After eighteen years in public schools, Tim gave up his tenure in 2012 to launch Griffin Education Solutions (GriffinEd), a nonprofit dedicated to raising academic achievement through fun educational music. GriffinEd is funded by grants and donations, and gives music away through a free online musical “library” organized by grade level and subject. In 2024 Tim put the reins of GriffinEd into younger hands; but as director emeritus he remains an active volunteer, writer, and performer.
Tim’s songs and performance style help us learn what children not only respond to but also remember and understand. His songs are beautifully crafted and scientifically and historically accurate, and he performs them in an engaging and professional way. Both by example and via workshops, he has helped filk songwriters learn how to teach while entertaining.
He has also integrated members of the filk community into GriffinEd by hiring prominent filkers as writers, producers, and consultants.
Tim has recorded four albums: “Insult to Injury” (2006), “The DaVinci Chord” (2011), “Wrong & Wright” (2012), and “Over the Edge” (2014). He received the Pegasus Award for Best Songwriter/Composer in 2014, and three of his songs have received Pegasus Awards: “Oregon Trail” for Best Roadtrip Song in 2018, “Lucy On the Line” for Best Filk Song in 2019, and “Shoulders of Giants” for Best Science Song in 2023.
Tim is a delightful person with a good heart and a giving soul, and has been a wonderful guest at a number of fan conventions. He is a role model for the value and joy of making music together.
For these contributions to filk music and the filk community, Tim Griffin is inducted into the Filk Hall of Fame this eighteenth day of April, two thousand and twenty-six.
Photo credit: Karen Paddison