A Life on Track -- Then Tragedy

Scott Griffith spent two decades living a childhood dream, earning a living with his guitar.

The Mission Viejo native played several of Southern California’s most storied nightclubs -- the Roxy, the Troubadour, the Whisky a Go Go. And he partied like a rock star.

After a drug-related arrest a few years ago, Griffith vowed to change, to be a better father to his only daughter. He cut his hair, studied computers and got an office job.

Three months ago, the single father continued his transition by moving to Rhode Island for a better job at a computer company building Internet firewalls.

His past was never far away. Last week, Great White singer Jack Russell gave Griffith five passes for the group’s show at the Station nightclub in West Warwick.

Griffith, 41, was near the stage when a pyrotechnics display started a fire that spread quickly, killing him and 96 others, officials said.

It didn’t take long for word to travel back to Orange County, where Griffith still has many close friends, several former bandmates among them.

Those friends have spent the past few days recalling funny stories about their friend. “He was one of the most animated characters I ever met. He always makes you laugh. Everybody that knows [him] knows a funny story about him,” said James Costa, road manager for two of Griffith’s bands, including the most successful, Stepchild.

“We’re all going to miss him a lot. We’re all real proud of what he did with his daughter.”

His daughter, 13, has been staying with Griffith’s family members in Rhode Island.

Stepchild never made a record, but one of the band’s songs was included on an album produced by heavy-metal radio station KNAC that honored the best small bands in the West.

Griffith was an extremely talented guitar player, his friends and former band members said. Though he was able to live his dream by making a living through music, he never got the big break to make him wealthy.

He spent much of the 1980s and ‘90s living in Garden Grove, rehearsing in the same studio used by Korn, Offspring, Sublime, No Doubt and Pennywise, said Paul Wilson, Stepchild’s drummer and a longtime friend.

Griffith was jailed several years ago for a drug offense and decided while in jail to turn his life around, Wilson said.

“As far as his daughter goes, he knew he had to take care of her. He made a huge change,” Wilson said. “He was doing good. He was still playing music, but he was completely sober.”