Jackie Greene
Encyclopedia
Jackie Greene is an American
singer-songwriter
and musician
.
, California
, and developed an interest in music at an early age, starting with the piano
. At 14, he began to play guitar
and within a short time, was able to sit in with local bar bands. As he got older, he began composing
his own songs. He recorded in a makeshift garage studio
, burning his own CDs and selling them everywhere he could. Using the money he saved, Greene was eventually able to record and release his first full-length album, Rusty Nails
, on his own.
After graduating from Oak Ridge High School
in El Dorado Hills, California
, Greene moved to Sacramento
, where he began performing regularly. Marty DeAnda, owner of local label DIG Music, noticed Greene at an open-mic session in 2001 and signed him as the label's first artist. In late 2002, Greene released his first album with DIG, Gone Wanderin'
, which won the California Music Award for the Best Blues/Roots Album in 2003 and remained on the national Americana
charts for over a year. In 2004, Greene released his third album, Sweet Somewhere Bound
, and began receiving radio play for singles like "Honey I Been Thinking About You".
Greene has toured nationally with B.B. King, Phil Lesh
, Ratdog
, Huey Lewis
, Susan Tedeschi
, Taj Mahal
, and Buddy Guy
, and has played major U.S. festivals, including All Good
, Gathering of the Vibes
, Mountain Jam
, Grateful Garcia Gathering, Newport Jazz
, Newport Folk
, South by Southwest
, Wakarusa
, Winnipeg Folk
, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands
, and Rothbury.
In early 2005, he signed with a major record label, Verve Forecast. Sweet Somewhere Bound was reissued that year, followed by a new release, American Myth
, in March 2006. The following year, Greene joined Phil Lesh and Friends
, the Grateful Dead
bassist's ensemble dedicated to the interpretation of the Dead's extensive song book. Other members of the band at the time included John Molo
, Larry Campbell
and Steve Molitz. Also in 2005 his song "I Will Never Let Go" was used in the soundtrack for the movie Brokeback Mountain
which was also released on the Verve label.
Meanwhile, Greene continued to pursue solo efforts, releasing Giving Up the Ghost on 429 Records in April 2008, and made his second visit to Late Night With Conan O'Brien
in June 2008, performing "Like A Ball & Chain". Another song from the album, "I Don't Live in a Dream", was featured on episodes of the NBC
television series Life in November 2008 and ABC
's Private Practice in March 2009.
In October through November 2009, Jackie Greene played a series of shows with Gov't Mule
, culminating at the end of the tour on Halloween at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, during which Jackie played and sang through an entire set of Rolling Stones songs with Gov't Mule
.
Greene is currently a member of Trigger Hippy
along with Joan Osborne
, Steve Gorman
, Audley Freed
, and Nick Govrik.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriter
Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...
and musician
Musician
A musician is an artist who plays a musical instrument. It may or may not be the person's profession. Musicians can be classified by their roles in performing music and writing music.Also....* A person who makes music a profession....
.
Career
Greene was born Chris Nelson in SalinasSalinas, California
Salinas is the county seat and the largest municipality of Monterey County, California. Salinas is located east-southeast of the mouth of the Salinas River, at an elevation of about 52 feet above sea level. The population was 150,441 at the 2010 census...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and developed an interest in music at an early age, starting with the piano
Piano
The piano is a musical instrument played by means of a keyboard. It is one of the most popular instruments in the world. Widely used in classical and jazz music for solo performances, ensemble use, chamber music and accompaniment, the piano is also very popular as an aid to composing and rehearsal...
. At 14, he began to play guitar
Guitar
The guitar is a plucked string instrument, usually played with fingers or a pick. The guitar consists of a body with a rigid neck to which the strings, generally six in number, are attached. Guitars are traditionally constructed of various woods and strung with animal gut or, more recently, with...
and within a short time, was able to sit in with local bar bands. As he got older, he began composing
Composer
A composer is a person who creates music, either by musical notation or oral tradition, for interpretation and performance, or through direct manipulation of sonic material through electronic media...
his own songs. He recorded in a makeshift garage studio
Recording studio
A recording studio is a facility for sound recording and mixing. Ideally both the recording and monitoring spaces are specially designed by an acoustician to achieve optimum acoustic properties...
, burning his own CDs and selling them everywhere he could. Using the money he saved, Greene was eventually able to record and release his first full-length album, Rusty Nails
Rusty Nails (album)
-Track listing:#"Pale Blue Monday" – 6:00#"Santa Fe Girl" – 5:19#"The Lord Mistreats Me" – 3:41#"Georgia" – 4:11#"Passin' on the Blues" – 4:32#"Blue Sky" – 4:32#"Gettin' By" – 5:31#"The Rusty Nail" – 3:47#"Waiting for the Whistle" – 5:08...
, on his own.
After graduating from Oak Ridge High School
Oak Ridge High School (El Dorado Hills, California)
Oak Ridge High School is a public high school located 20 miles east of Sacramento, California in rapidly growing El Dorado Hills. It is part of the El Dorado Union High School District...
in El Dorado Hills, California
El Dorado Hills, California
El Dorado Hills is an unincorporated census-designated place located in El Dorado County, California, east of the state capital of Sacramento. The population was 42,108 at the 2010 census, up from 18,016 at the 2000 census...
, Greene moved to Sacramento
Sacramento
Sacramento is the capital of the state of California, in the United States of America.Sacramento may also refer to:- United States :*Sacramento County, California*Sacramento, Kentucky*Sacramento – San Joaquin River Delta...
, where he began performing regularly. Marty DeAnda, owner of local label DIG Music, noticed Greene at an open-mic session in 2001 and signed him as the label's first artist. In late 2002, Greene released his first album with DIG, Gone Wanderin'
Gone Wanderin'
Gone Wanderin' is a 2002 album released by Jackie Greene.-Track listing:#"Gone Wanderin'" – 2:55#"Tell Me Mama, Tell Me Right" – 2:36#"Travelin' Song" – 3:57#"Mexican Girl" – 4:02#"Down in the Valley Woe" – 4:22#"Cry Yourself Dry" – 4:27...
, which won the California Music Award for the Best Blues/Roots Album in 2003 and remained on the national Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
charts for over a year. In 2004, Greene released his third album, Sweet Somewhere Bound
Sweet Somewhere Bound
Sweet Somewhere Bound is a 2004 album released by Jackie Greene.-Track listing:#"About Cell Block #9" – 3:44#"Honey I Been Thinking About You" – 4:45#"Sweet Somewhere Bound" – 4:59#"Miss Madeline " – 5:39...
, and began receiving radio play for singles like "Honey I Been Thinking About You".
Greene has toured nationally with B.B. King, Phil Lesh
Phil Lesh
Phillip Chapman Lesh is a musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he played bass guitar throughout their 30-year career....
, Ratdog
Ratdog
RatDog , is an American rock band. The group began as a side project for Grateful Dead rhythm guitarist Bob Weir and bassist Rob Wasserman. After the Grateful Dead disbanded in December 1995, following the death of Jerry Garcia on August 9, 1995, RatDog became Bob Weir's primary band...
, Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis
Huey Lewis is an American musician, songwriter and occasional actor.Lewis sings lead and plays harmonica for his band Huey Lewis and the News, in addition to writing or co-writing many of the band's songs...
, Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi
Susan Tedeschi is an American blues and soul musician, who has received multiple Grammy Award nominations, and is well-known for her singing voice, guitar playing, stage presence, and marriage to blues guitarist Derek Trucks...
, Taj Mahal
Taj Mahal (musician)
Henry Saint Clair Fredericks , who uses the stage name Taj Mahal, is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician. He incorporates elements of world music into his music...
, and Buddy Guy
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy is an American blues and jazz guitarist and singer. He is a critically acclaimed artist who has established himself as a pioneer of the Chicago blues sound, and has served as an influence to some of the most notable musicians of his generation...
, and has played major U.S. festivals, including All Good
All Good Music Festival
The All Good Music Festival and Camp Out is a weekend-long event held annually in July. Since its inception in 1997, it has been held at venues along the Mid-Atlantic, including Masontown, West Virginia and locations in Maryland and Virginia...
, Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes
Gathering of the Vibes is an annual four-day music, camping and arts festival that celebrates the Grateful Dead & showcases a very diverse variety of music. Over the course of the event, styles often include; Funk, Bluegrass, Rock, Jam Band, Jazz, Reggae, R&B & Folk music. Since 1996, GOTV has...
, Mountain Jam
Mountain Jam (festival)
Mountain Jam is a three-day music festival in upstate New York, held at the world class Hunter Mountain ski resort the weekend after Memorial Day. In its short history, Mountain Jam has become one of the top music festivals in the U.S. and the premier festival in the Northeast. Rolling Stone...
, Grateful Garcia Gathering, Newport Jazz
Newport Jazz Festival
The Newport Jazz Festival is a music festival held every summer in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. It was established in 1954 by socialite Elaine Lorillard, who, together with husband Louis Lorillard, financed the festival for many years. The couple hired jazz impresario George Wein to organize the...
, Newport Folk
Newport Folk Festival
The Newport Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival in Newport, Rhode Island, which began in 1959 as a counterpart to the previously established Newport Jazz Festival...
, South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
, Wakarusa
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival
Wakarusa Music and Camping Festival is a four-day music festival held in early June at Mulberry Mountain near Ozark, Arkansas. The festival has been held annually since 2004....
, Winnipeg Folk
Winnipeg Folk Festival
The Winnipeg Folk Festival is a summer folk music festival held in Birds Hill Provincial Park, near Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It features a variety of folk artists from all around the world, as well as a number of local folk performers....
, Bonnaroo, Outside Lands
Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival
The Outside Lands Music and Arts Festival is a music festival held annually in San Francisco, California at Golden Gate Park. The first edition occurred August 22–24 in 2008, and included over 60 musical acts from around the world, as well as several art installations...
, and Rothbury.
In early 2005, he signed with a major record label, Verve Forecast. Sweet Somewhere Bound was reissued that year, followed by a new release, American Myth
American Myth
American Myth is a 2006 album released by Jackie Greene.-Track listing:#"Intro" – 0:50#"Hollywood" – 4:59#"So Hard to Find My Way" – 4:10#"Just as Well" – 4:57#"I'm So Gone" – 4:13#"Never Satisfied " – 3:58#"Love Song; 2:00 AM" – 5:05...
, in March 2006. The following year, Greene joined Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends
Phil Lesh and Friends is an American rock band formed and led by Phil Lesh, former bassist of the Grateful Dead.Phil & Friends is not a traditional group in that several different lineups of musicians have played under the name, including groups featuring members of Phish, Little Feat, and the Zen...
, the Grateful Dead
Grateful Dead
The Grateful Dead was an American rock band formed in 1965 in the San Francisco Bay Area. The band was known for its unique and eclectic style, which fused elements of rock, folk, bluegrass, blues, reggae, country, improvisational jazz, psychedelia, and space rock, and for live performances of long...
bassist's ensemble dedicated to the interpretation of the Dead's extensive song book. Other members of the band at the time included John Molo
John Molo
John Molo , is an American rock and jazz drummer and percussionist. He has played with a variety of bands, combos, and soloists, including Bruce Hornsby and the Range, The Other Ones, Phil Lesh and Friends, Delaney Bramlett, John Fogerty, Keller Williams, Mike Watt, Paul Kelly, David Nelson,...
, Larry Campbell
Larry Campbell (musician)
Larry Campbell is a multi-instrumentalist who plays many stringed instruments in genres including country, folk, blues, and rock...
and Steve Molitz. Also in 2005 his song "I Will Never Let Go" was used in the soundtrack for the movie Brokeback Mountain
Brokeback Mountain (soundtrack)
The Brokeback Mountain soundtrack refers to either or both the two-hour musical soundtrack edited into the 2005 film Brokeback Mountain, and the recorded albums of music selected from the film. Some albums have different performers substituted for those heard in the film...
which was also released on the Verve label.
Meanwhile, Greene continued to pursue solo efforts, releasing Giving Up the Ghost on 429 Records in April 2008, and made his second visit to Late Night With Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien
Late Night with Conan O'Brien is an American late-night talk show hosted by Conan O'Brien that aired 2,725 episodes on NBC between 1993 and 2009. The show featured varied comedic material, celebrity interviews, and musical and comedy performances. Late Night aired weeknights at 12:37 am...
in June 2008, performing "Like A Ball & Chain". Another song from the album, "I Don't Live in a Dream", was featured on episodes of the NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
television series Life in November 2008 and ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
's Private Practice in March 2009.
In October through November 2009, Jackie Greene played a series of shows with Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
, culminating at the end of the tour on Halloween at the Tower Theater in Upper Darby, during which Jackie played and sang through an entire set of Rolling Stones songs with Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule
Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...
.
Greene is currently a member of Trigger Hippy
Trigger Hippy
Trigger Hippy is an American Rock and Roll supergroup composed of Black Crowes drummer Steve Gorman, ex-Black Crowes guitarist Audley Freed, singer Joan Osborne, singer/songwriter Jackie Greene and bassist Nick Govrik. Formerly of the group is Widespread Panic guitarist Jimmy Herring.-History:The...
along with Joan Osborne
Joan Osborne
Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...
, Steve Gorman
Steve Gorman
Steve Gorman is a musician best known as the drummer of the American hard rock band The Black Crowes. He also spent some time as the drummer for British rock band Stereophonics.- Early career :...
, Audley Freed
Audley Freed
thumb|250px|Audley Freed playing with [[New Earth Mud]] on June 28, 2004 at [[Irving Plaza]], [[New York]]Audley Freed is a guitarist. He started his professional career on the Southeastern club and fraternity circuit. He then formed the band Cry of Love, which was signed to Columbia Records and...
, and Nick Govrik.
Discography
- Gone Wanderin'Gone Wanderin'Gone Wanderin' is a 2002 album released by Jackie Greene.-Track listing:#"Gone Wanderin'" – 2:55#"Tell Me Mama, Tell Me Right" – 2:36#"Travelin' Song" – 3:57#"Mexican Girl" – 4:02#"Down in the Valley Woe" – 4:22#"Cry Yourself Dry" – 4:27...
(2002) - Rusty NailsRusty Nails (album)-Track listing:#"Pale Blue Monday" – 6:00#"Santa Fe Girl" – 5:19#"The Lord Mistreats Me" – 3:41#"Georgia" – 4:11#"Passin' on the Blues" – 4:32#"Blue Sky" – 4:32#"Gettin' By" – 5:31#"The Rusty Nail" – 3:47#"Waiting for the Whistle" – 5:08...
(2003) - Sweet Somewhere BoundSweet Somewhere BoundSweet Somewhere Bound is a 2004 album released by Jackie Greene.-Track listing:#"About Cell Block #9" – 3:44#"Honey I Been Thinking About You" – 4:45#"Sweet Somewhere Bound" – 4:59#"Miss Madeline " – 5:39...
(2004) - American MythAmerican MythAmerican Myth is a 2006 album released by Jackie Greene.-Track listing:#"Intro" – 0:50#"Hollywood" – 4:59#"So Hard to Find My Way" – 4:10#"Just as Well" – 4:57#"I'm So Gone" – 4:13#"Never Satisfied " – 3:58#"Love Song; 2:00 AM" – 5:05...
(2006) - Giving Up the Ghost (2008)
- Till the Light Comes (2010)
External links
- Official website — jackiegreene.com
- Jackie Greene on MySpace
- phillesh.net
- Live Performance on the Music Exchange from July 4, 2005
- Jackie Greene collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive