Jack Grisham

Jack Grisham sits on his bedroom floor, admiring the latest bit of unpremeditated chaos he has wrought in the world of punk rock. Delightedly, he is screening rough footage for a video for "Go Bang," a song by his new band, the Joykiller. The track and the explosive, catchy debut album it is taken from could turn Grisham from a local legend--known for his charismatic presence, his wild and sometimes violent behavior and his career-long commercial underachieving--into a bona fide rock star.

Citizen Punk? The strange saga of California's recall effort against Gov. Gray Davis has plenty of oddities (forget Arnold Schwarzenegger's flirtation with running -- have you heard Larry Flynt and Angelyne are in the race?), and at first glance the candidacy of Jack Grisham looks like another oddball subplot. Grisham is the lead singer of TSOL, one of the pioneering forces in the Orange County punk scene that took shape in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

Family responsibilities and economic marginality, a career-killing combo for older rockers, have killed off the Joykiller, one of Orange County's best punk-pop bands. "We can't afford to do it," bandleader Jack Grisham said Monday, a week after he told his record company he was breaking up the band. Grisham did the math after touring recently as opening act for the Offspring. "I made less than a dollar an hour, $500 for being gone a month," he said.

Not long ago, the chances of Jack Grisham, Ron Emory and Mike Roche getting together again to play concerts as three-fourths of the original T.S.O.L. seemed remote. A more probable reunion might have been at a funeral, with one of them--most likely Emory or Roche--in a coffin and the others in mourning. Drugs and alcohol have been a scourge for T.S.O.L.

"Hey, hey, hey, come out and play," goes the refrain of the Offspring hit that is the most widely heard punk rock song ever to come out of Orange County. Jack Grisham and Ron Emory, whose old band, T.S.O.L., is cited as an influence by the Offspring, have decided to heed that catchy piece of advice. Singer Grisham and guitarist Emory will come out and play their first concert in more than 1 1/2 years tonight at Dragonfly in Hollywood, fronting a new band, the Joykillers.

Epitaph Records, the nation's flagship punk-rock specialty label, hopes to disinter T.S.O.L.'s recording career and help the recently reunited original lineup expand on its 16-year-old corpus of work. "We think T.S.O.L. is going to do a record this fall when they get back from touring," said Jason Henry, an artist development staffer at the label who works with T.S.O.L. singer Jack Grisham in his solo career, and who hopes to work with the band as a whole.

Citizen Punk? The strange saga of California's recall effort against Gov. Gray Davis has plenty of oddities (forget Arnold Schwarzenegger's flirtation with running -- have you heard Larry Flynt and Angelyne are in the race?), and at first glance the candidacy of Jack Grisham looks like another oddball subplot. Grisham is the lead singer of TSOL, one of the pioneering forces in the Orange County punk scene that took shape in the late 1970s and early 1980s.

There long has been an impression among observers of the local alternative-rock scene that Jack Grisham and Joe Wood must not particularly care for each other. If not sworn enemies, these two big, strapping rock singers at least have to be fairly heated rivals, goes the common perception. After all, considering everything that's gone down with T.S.O.L., the band that Grisham founded and Wood took over, they can't possibly like each other.

Not long ago, the chances of Jack Grisham, Ron Emory and Mike Roche getting together again to play concerts as three-fourths of the original T.S.O.L. seemed remote. A more probable reunion might have been at a funeral, with one of them--most likely Emory or Roche--in a coffin and the others in mourning. Drugs and alcohol have been a scourge for T.S.O.L.

Jack Grisham is a self-confessed troublemaker, an inveterate, excitement-craving rock 'n' roll bad boy whose unpredictable, sometimes violent behavior and rabble-rousing stage exploits have been the stuff of legend on the local rock scene for more than a decade. But sitting over a pre-concert dinner recently, the strapping, handsome lead singer of Tender Fury insisted that he has changed. At 28, Grisham says, he has turned into a sober professional.

Epitaph Records, the nation's flagship punk-rock specialty label, hopes to disinter T.S.O.L.'s recording career and help the recently reunited original lineup expand on its 16-year-old corpus of work. "We think T.S.O.L. is going to do a record this fall when they get back from touring," said Jason Henry, an artist development staffer at the label who works with T.S.O.L. singer Jack Grisham in his solo career, and who hopes to work with the band as a whole.

Family responsibilities and economic marginality, a career-killing combo for older rockers, have killed off the Joykiller, one of Orange County's best punk-pop bands. "We can't afford to do it," bandleader Jack Grisham said Monday, a week after he told his record company he was breaking up the band. Grisham did the math after touring recently as opening act for the Offspring. "I made less than a dollar an hour, $500 for being gone a month," he said.

Jack Grisham sits on his bedroom floor, admiring the latest bit of unpremeditated chaos he has wrought in the world of punk rock. Delightedly, he is screening rough footage for a video for "Go Bang," a song by his new band, the Joykiller. The track and the explosive, catchy debut album it is taken from could turn Grisham from a local legend--known for his charismatic presence, his wild and sometimes violent behavior and his career-long commercial underachieving--into a bona fide rock star.

"Hey, hey, hey, come out and play," goes the refrain of the Offspring hit that is the most widely heard punk rock song ever to come out of Orange County. Jack Grisham and Ron Emory, whose old band, T.S.O.L., is cited as an influence by the Offspring, have decided to heed that catchy piece of advice. Singer Grisham and guitarist Emory will come out and play their first concert in more than 1 1/2 years tonight at Dragonfly in Hollywood, fronting a new band, the Joykillers.

There long has been an impression among observers of the local alternative-rock scene that Jack Grisham and Joe Wood must not particularly care for each other. If not sworn enemies, these two big, strapping rock singers at least have to be fairly heated rivals, goes the common perception. After all, considering everything that's gone down with T.S.O.L., the band that Grisham founded and Wood took over, they can't possibly like each other.

Jack Grisham is a self-confessed troublemaker, an inveterate, excitement-craving rock 'n' roll bad boy whose unpredictable, sometimes violent behavior and rabble-rousing stage exploits have been the stuff of legend on the local rock scene for more than a decade. But sitting over a pre-concert dinner recently, the strapping, handsome lead singer of Tender Fury insisted that he has changed. At 28, Grisham says, he has turned into a sober professional.

A few observations about Jack Grisham, singer of the Orange County/Long Beach band Tender Fury: "He is as charismatic as a top ballet dancer. It's a matter of whether he has the discipline to persevere and to come through on the chances that come his way. --Robbie Fields, head of Posh Boy, the record label that recently released Tender Fury's excellent debut album. He has a real talent, a real flair. But I don't think he'll ever succeed, because he's his own worst enemy.

A few observations about Jack Grisham, singer of the Orange County/Long Beach band Tender Fury: "He is as charismatic as a top ballet dancer. It's a matter of whether he has the discipline to persevere and to come through on the chances that come his way. --Robbie Fields, head of Posh Boy, the record label that recently released Tender Fury's excellent debut album. He has a real talent, a real flair. But I don't think he'll ever succeed, because he's his own worst enemy.