Discovered at a Sacramento open-mike night when local label Dig Music’s owner happened to be there, singer/songwriter Jackie Greene is a captivating performer who works well in simple, sparse environments.
Signing to the label almost immediately, the California native worked countless clubs and bars before his discovery, a fact made more interesting when considering that he was a teenager at the time.
A multi-instrumentalist, Greene played most of the instruments on his debut record, Gone Wanderin’. A soulful bit of roots music, the album brought him to a national audience and sprung him into a college tour during the fall of 2002, along with key support dates opening for B.B. King, Susan Tedeschi, Buddy Guy and Johnny Lang and most importantly Los Lobos. Dubbed “The Prince of Americana” by the New York Times, Greene was off and running.
Rusty Nails, a collection of self-produced material from 2001, was released by Dig in 2003, followed by the live-in-the-studio DVD video Broken Hearts Dusty Roads in 2004. Sweet Somewhere Bound appeared on Dig later that same year and was licensed to Verve, which reissued it in 2005.
Greene’s first proper album for Verve, American Myth, produced by Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin, appeared in 2006. In 2008, Greene released Giving Up the Ghost, his first album for 429 Records. The pop-infused but still heartfelt Til the Light Comes followed in 2010.
He took time out to perform with super groups Trigger Hippy (with Joan Osborne and the Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman), acoustic trio WRG (with Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson), and Phil Lesh & Friends and joined the Black Crowes from 2013 until they disbanded in 2015. Greene returned to the studio to record his seventh album, again with Berlin in the producer’s chair. The life cycle-themed Back to Birth was released in August 2015 on Yep Roc.
This year, 2018, Jackie has prepared an EP, Modern Lives Vol. 1. You’ll hear the title “Modern Lives” and “Crazy Comes Easy” on K-ZAP 93.3 FM and streaming at K-ZAP.ORG/LISTEN!
Discography:
Gone Wanderin’ (2002)
Rusty Nails (2003)
Sweet Somewhere Bound (2004)
American Myth (2006)
Giving Up the Ghost (2008)
Small Tempest (2009)
Till the Light Comes (2010)
Back to Birth (2015)
Modern Lives Vol. 1 (EP)(2017)
Reference: Jackie Greene Biography, Allmusic
Artist Website: Jackiegreene.com
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