Jackie Greene will perform at Bearsville Theater on Friday, November 2, 2012. He is currently working on a new album (release date: TBA), and you can stream his latest album Till The Light Comes as well as his other recordings at this link: http://jackiegreene.com/music . A download link and review copy of Till The Light Comes are available upon request. Greene just got off the road from a series of shows featuring him alongside Black Crowes' Chris Robinson and Bob Weir, performing as an acoustic trio.
Greene just released a new video for his latest track, "Silver Lining," which will be featured on his new release. Please feel free to check out the video on his homepage: http://jackiegreene.com
Please see the press release below.
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***For Immediate Release***
Friday, November 2, 2012
Jackie Greene
Bearsville Theater
291 Tinker Street
Woodstock, NY
Show: 9 pm
Tickets: $20-$35
Ticket Info: http://www.bearsvilletheater.com
San Francisco, CA - October 5, 2012 - Jackie Greene has been so prolific during the past decade that it's almost shocking to realize he is only 31 years old. Since he emerged at the dawn of the new century as a promising young singer-songwriter, Greene -- dubbed "The Prince of Americana" by The New York Times -- has continued to blossom, performing both his own creations and contributing his perspective to the music of lauded artists in a multitude of diverse situations and configurations. Along the way he has earned one of the most devoted, accepting audiences any artist could hope to have, eagerly following him down every inspired new road he travels.
Now, on his next album, currently in the works (release date TBA), Greene will premiere some of the most introspective, intimate music of his career. On the as-yet-untitled collection, to be culled from some 25 new original compositions, Greene will focus on themes of great personal significance, ranging from the loss of his father to his love of the Americana genre and his affection for the South. The first video from the forthcoming album, "Silver Lining," will soon be released in order to give fans a taste of what's to come.
As exciting as the lyrical focus of his new music is the fact that Greene plans to play every instrument on the album himself. "I've been demoing stuff at my house," he says about the ongoing process of crafting his next work. "I started recording by myself, it sounds so much better than some of my past stuff. When my singing was a little bit off on my past albums, I used to hate that. On the new songs, I'm playing as if it's a performance. Musically, some of it sounds like a J.J. Cale, Leon Russell or Little Feat album, those kinds of records -- the vibe is really natural on this new album. I'm finally OK with certain imperfections, as long as the song ends up feeling meaningful."
At first, wearing his singer-songwriter influences on his sleeve garnered Jackie some comparisons to Dylan. "I used to hate this comparison," he says, "but it was true. Now I've grown out of the Dylan thing. I love Dylan's work, Tom Waits and American blues and folk music and, at least for the first 10 years of my career, this was where I got my main inspiration, from great American songwriters."
While Greene cites heroes as dissimilar as Ray Charles and Cale as influences on his new tunes, over the years he's developed a distinctive artistic voice that up-and-comers now look to for their own inspiration. And even if his musical range was somewhat more specific in the beginning, from the start the Salinas, CA-born Greene's gift for spinning a tale through song touched a wide swath of music fans and critics. All Music Guide said of Greene's 2002 maiden release Gone Wanderin', "There's a world-weariness to his songs that might not seem fully earned given his age. But he sounds like he's feeling the emotions authentically enough, with a voice that blends country, rock, folk and a bit of blues with as much ease as his music does." That impressive debut was later named one of Rolling Stone's "Top 10 Albums of the Year," an amazing feat for any newcomer.
Since his early days though, in addition to recording and performing as solo artist and frontman, Greene has also been involved in many high-profile side projects, including enthusiastically received stints as lead singer and multi-instrumentalist for Phil Lesh and Friends. Greene has performed several times and toured with the late legend Levon Helm at the latter's famous Midnight Ramble concerts and has been a featured performer at Warren Haynes's annual Christmas Jam. He recently toured with a new ensemble, Trigger Hippy, featuring Steve Gorman of the Black Crowes and singer Joan Osborne, who has said that Jackie is "enormously talented, and anchored by a deep tap-root of soul. Jackie is the real thing." Greene also just got off the road from a series of shows featuring him alongside Bob Weir and Black Crowes' Chris Robinson, performing as an acoustic trio.
But even as he remains in high demand as a collaborator, Greene -- who tours 100 to 125 days per year on average -- is most heavily invested in pursuing his own music. "It has to sound like me," he says. "It has to be a definitive accounting of what I've been for 10 years. I'm not trying to reinvent myself; I'm trying to distill what I'm all about on this next record. I want it to sound like what I hear in my head."
In order to ensure that it best captures the essence of his current art, Jackie plans to self-produce the recording. "Only because I did the last album this way," he says. "I have a really good sense of what the end result is gonna be and what I want it to be. Production begins and ends on my performance. I don't nerd out on what compressor to use or the best mic to use. It's about performance and getting it done. It's about getting the right take. I'm thinking about not making any edits, and I love to record direct to analog tape. On some of those old records, there are mistakes on it and it brings a real quality to it; that's what I'm looking for. The main quality I love in those old records is that they don't feel over-cooked, they feel like a moment in time - a moment in time that's timeless."
Many thousands have seen Greene perform live -- in top venues such as The Fillmore, Nokia Theater, Wolf Trap, the House of Blues and such major festivals as Bonnaroo, Outside Lands, Summerfest, Rothbury, Newport Folk and Monterey Jazz -- and have come away from his shows raving about his charisma and versatility. Countless others have seen him on Conan O'Brien's TV programs. What some may not be aware of is just how far he's journeyed musically in the past decade. At first, Jackie primarily played solo on acoustic guitar, getting his songs out there in the most basic, direct way. Soon he was opening for such greats as Susan Tedeschi, Mark Knopfler, Los Lobos, B.B. King, and Buddy Guy.
By the release of 2004's Sweet Somewhere Bound, Greene began attracting a sizable following, which expanded exponentially with 2006's American Myth, his debut for the storied Verve Forecast label. Produced by Los Lobos' Steve Berlin -- who calls Greene "a rare and dangerous combination of incredible songwriter, great singer and amazing guitarist all in one package; a true American treasure" -- and featuring an impressive list of contributors including members of Elvis Costello's band, the album received many critical plaudits, including this one from NPR: "Greene dispenses an edgier, more rock-oriented sound than heard on its predecessors. Still, the album is packed with the sweet harmonies, seductive lyrics and smoky voice that have been Greene's trademark since he was a teenager."
Giving Up the Ghost, Greene's 2008 debut for the 429 label and also produced by Steve Berlin, once again introduced him to an ever-expanding fan base. Glide Magazine named the album one of the year's best while Relix lobbed an arsenal of adjectives at it: "lush, expansive, enveloping… gritty, raw emotional." The L.A. Times compared Greene's level of songcraft to Dylan, Bruce Springsteen, Gram Parsons, Costello and Paul Westerberg, and added that his songs touched on "everything that defines what it means to be human."
For 2010's Till the Light Comes, his most recent recording, Greene and co-producer Tim Bluhm (of The Mother Hips) veered more toward modern rock while injecting other stylistic elements into the mix. AllAboutJazz.com called the album "an exercise in style the likes of which there is no precedent in his discography," while MerchantsOfRock.com said, "Never one to be put in a box, Jackie changes up the pace and treads some new ground."
As constantly busy as he is, Jackie Greene isn't one of those all work/no play kind of artists. A major baseball fan, he's sung the national anthem at San Francisco Giants games many times; most recently on July 1, 2012. He enjoys acquiring vintage Americana clothes: old Levi's, suede boots, hats and vests. He also spends his spare time, on and off the road, shopping for vinyl at used record stores.
"I have this theory," Greene says, "that part of the reason music is undervalued today is because we've put convenience first." He continues, "There used to be a certain physicality involved with listening to an album. You had to get off your ass to clean the record, rewind the tape, etc. Listening to music demanded a certain amount of our attention, and some things were harder to get. You had to know a guy who knew a guy who might have a 3rd generation copy of some punk tape you desperately wanted. This automatically created reverence for the object, and in turn, for the music on it. Nowadays, everything is available for the taking at any given time. In a way, music has become a backdrop. I mean, when's the last time you heard someone say: 'I can't wait to get off work so I can go home and check out this new record!' I certainly enjoy the convenience aspect of an iPod, but there's a large part of me that thinks its kind of a bummer. It used to be way more difficult to discover new music and therefore way more rewarding."
Mainly though, his focus right now is on getting back to creating new Jackie Greene music. "We aren't really a jam band, at least as far as the current movement goes," he says. "It's true, we do lots of improvisational music, but it's all based around songs. At the end of the day, I suppose we are a combination of a classic rock band, folk singer/songwriter, and jam band. Or something like that."
Jackie Greene will tour in the U.S. throughout October and November 2012. His forthcoming tour dates are as follows:
Upcoming Jackie Greene Tour Dates:
Tuesday, October 2, 2012 - Oxford, MS - Proud Larry's
Wednesday, October 3, 2012 - Birmingham, AL - Workplay
Friday, October 5, 2012 - Atlanta, GA - Smith's Olde Bar
Saturday, October 6, 2012 - Nashville, TN - 3rd & Lindsley
Sunday, October 7, 2012 - Asheville, NC - Grey Eagle
Tuesday, October 9, 2012 - Charlotte, NC - Visulite Theatre
Thursday, October 11, 2012 - Raleigh, NC - The Pour House
Friday, October 12, 2012 - Wilmington, NC - Brooklyn Arts Center
Saturday, October 13, 2012 - Virginia Beach, VA - Jewish Mother
Sunday, October 14, 2012 - Roanoke, VA - Growlers
Thursday, October 25, 2012 - Annapolis, MD - Ram's Head On Stage
Friday, October 26, 2012 - Wilmington, DE - World Café Live
Sunday, October 28, 2012 - Pawtucket, RI - The Met
Wednesday, October 31, 2012 - Brooklyn, NY - Music Hall of Williamsburg
Thursday, November 1, 2012 - New Hope, PA - Triumph Brewing Co.
Friday, November 2, 2012 - Woodstock, NY - Bearsville Theater
Sunday, November 4, 2012 - StageOne - Fairfield, CT
Tuesday, November 6, 2012 - Syracuse, NY - Westcott Theatre
Media Contact: Jesse P. Cutler, JP Cutler Media, 612.922.9016, publicity@jpcutlermedia.com
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Jackie Greene @ Bearsville Theater
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