“It’s the little song that could,” Ryan Griffin says at the start of The Lakeside Session performance of his track, “Salt, Lime & Tequila.” The song reached No. 1 on SiriusXM’s The Highways Hot 30 Countdown and is closing in on 10 million streams on Spotify alone (14 million+ total across the board.) That accomplishment isn’t lost on Ryan, who says that this song is what “put me on the map…It blew up on social media. It’s been so unbelievably cool to watch it connect with people.”
“I am so, so thankful – as a Florida boy, I’ve got salt water in my veins – that this is my first song that has really taken off and connected with people. So, thank you so much for loving this song [and] for changing my life with this song.” From there, Ryan and his band play a stripped-down rendition of “Salt, Lime & Tequila” while sitting by the serene waters. It’s arguably a perfect snapshot of the summer vibe, one that should keep fans chillin’ all the way until October.
“It only felt right to perform ‘Salt, Lime & Tequila’ as part of an acoustic Lakeside Session,” Ryan tells HollywoodLife. “On the water and carefree – that’s what this song is all about, and I think that’s why it resonated so strongly with people to start with.”
Along with salt water, there’s a deep love of country music in Ryan’s blood. While spending his early years working alongside his family on the sod fields, Ryan quickly developed a love of the music he’d hear from the family car’s radio. After his father took him to a local country festival, Ryan saw stars like Alan Jackson and Kenny Chesney, and suddenly, Griffin knew he wanted to spend his life on the stage like his heroes.
The dedicated work ethic that Ryan developed on the farm helped him get a leg up early in his career. As a teen, he honed his skills on a stage before enrolling in Belmont University to further develop his musical talents. He won the school’s country music showcase, played Best of the Best, and put his Music Business degree to work with an internship at Broken Bow. However, creatively, the early goings-on was rough, with Ryan struggling with his first label and publishing deal.
When 2017 rolled around, he faced a decision – stay with music, or give it up. With the encouragement of his wife, Ryan dropped his EP, Sake of the Summer, which contained “Woulda Left Me Too.” The song blew up (16+ million streams on Spotify). Its success was soon repeated when “Dibs,” the Kelsea Ballerini song he co-wrote, hit No. 1. With his 2022 follow-up, Slow Down Sunrise, Ryan built upon that momentum – thanks to a little bit of “Salt, Lime and Tequila” and an online following that includes 775k+ followers (and 4.3 million likes) on TikTok. Cheers to that.