Americana and roots singer-songwriter Jackie Greene is a jack-of-all-trades, and an artist who can croon over soulful piano ballads as much as he can shred a bluesy guitar solo (like he did as the lead guitarist for The Black Crowes in 2013). A road warrior and musician's musician, Greene's new EP 'The Modern Lives - Vol 2' (out October 2018 on Blue Rose Music) finds him at a new chapter in his life: his first months of fatherhood, time off his relentless touring circuit, and a cross-country move from Brooklyn to his birthplace of Northern California. This new collection of six original songs is a thematic extension of 'The Modern Lives - Vol 1' EP (released in 2017 on Blue Rose Music), imbued with a Brooklyn basement DIY feel and ethos. He is a student of American music, transfixed upon its progression through time, as well as how regional sounds fit in a contemporary context. Whereas 'Vol 1' saw Greene experiment with the Delta blues as a canvas for his examinations of modern society, 'Vol 2' sees Greene embrace the sounds of the bluegrass and folk tapes of his youth.
Lead single "Crazy Comes Easy" showcases Greene's dynamic, multi-instrumental range as he plays slide guitar, organ, bass, and percussion, the guitar licks an appreciative nod to his time in The Black Crowes. Meanwhile, "Good Old Bad Times" highlights Greene as the songwriter as he rattles off lines like "How can somebody find a future? / If they ain't got a foothold in the past?" while taking a critical eye to the idea of nostalgia. Piano ballad "Victim Of The Crime" was one of Jackie's oldest demos up until the feel of these sessions gave him the tools to finish a song that, in his words, was written for his wife before she was his wife. While the title possesses a kind of melodrama, the song itself is tender and heartfelt as he details love's trials and tribulations. Greene partnered with Academy Award-nominated "king of indie animation" Bill Plympton for a series of music videos for 'The Modern Lives - Vol 1' that would eventually become an animated short film titled 'The Modern Lives'. The film is currently making the rounds at film festivals where it has already won the Jury Award at the USA Film Festival in Dallas, TX, and the Grand Remi Award / Best in Show at WorldFest in Houstin, TX. The short is also being exhibited at the 71st Festival de Cannes/Court Metrage, Melbourne International Animation Festival, and ASIFA- East Festival, amongst others.
Since the release of his critically-acclaimed debut album 'Gone Wanderin’', Greene has built an enduring audience through a relentless touring schedule with the likes of BB King, Mark Knopfler, Susan Tedeschi, and Taj Mahal. He played lead guitar with The Black Crowes on their Layin’ Down With #13 World Tour, recorded and toured with Trigger Hippy - his supergroup with Joan Osborne - and in the last four years performed over 300 shows of his own, all while continuing to record and release his solo work. Greene is a frequent member of Phil Lesh & Friends, and sits in with countless other artists including Tedeschi Trucks Band, Govt Mule, Mississippi All-Stars, Amy Helm, Steve Earle, and Bob Weir.
Sun Apr 6 2025
7:00 PM (Doors 6:00 PM)
All Ages
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Jackie Greene w. Pernikoff Brothers
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Jackie Greene
Americana
Jackie Greene began his career in his mid-teens working the bar and open mic circuit in and around his hometown of Sacramento. Since then, he has recorded seven albums and two EP’s, released a DVD, and published a book of lyrics. Upon witnessing his performance at Bonnaroo, Jon Pareles of The New York Times had this to say about the singer, songwriter, bandleader, multi-instrumentalist, “Jackie Greene could be the Prince of Americana. That's capital P, and not because Mr. Greene favors the color purple but for some musical parallels.”
Jackie released his acoustic-laced breakthrough, Gone Wonderin’ in 2002, and followed it with two more albums, Rusty Nails and Sweet Somewhere Bound, on indie label Dig Records. In 2005, he contributed to the Oscar-winning Brokeback Mountain soundtrack, and a year later he issued his critically acclaimed Verve debut, American Myth, which he co-produced with Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin.
Greene’s career took an unexpected turn that year when Phil Lesh name-dropped him in an interview tied to Bonnaroo. They started talking and, a year later, Greene joined Phil & Friends, thrusting him in front of a new audience of open-minded music listeners and fastidious Deadheads.
In 2008, Greene made the move from Verve to Savoy and released Giving Up The Ghost, of which American Songwriter wrote, “Greene adroitly maneuvers the crannies of blues, folk, rock and soul with an impressive songwriting toolbox that uses a wide palette to express his simple, but not simplistic, tales.”
Small Tempest, an EP of originals, quickly followed Giving Up The Ghost. In 2010, he dropped another EP of Grateful Dead covers, and in the same year his solo and Deadhead worlds converged on the epic Till the Light Comes. Relix Magazine: “His latest album finds the maturing singer/songwriter offering a sojourn into his own psyche where the waters of human suffering prove difficult to navigate…weighty insights are balanced alongside fist-pumping rock-revelries (“Spooky Tina,” “Medicine”) so jubilant they create an album whose sum remains uplifting and accessible. Half pop, half poetic— and all good.”
In 2013, Jackie was asked to join The Black Crowes for their epic worldwide tour. It was through his work with Lesh that Greene entered the Crowes’ orbit as the bassist regularly brought singer Chris Robinson and keyboardist Adam MacDougall into the PL&F fold. Greene drifted deeper into the Dead world when his friendship with Robinson and Bob Weir resulted in a new trio. And, by chance, he also joined Trigger Hippy, a supergroup that features Joan Osborne and Crowes drummer Steve Gorman. When Luther Dickinson was unavailable to tour with the reformed Crowes, Greene was a natural choice.
In 2014, with the Crowes tour behind him, Greene has his eye set on a new solo album, his first in four years, and hitting the road again…as the Jackie Greene Band.
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Pernikoff Brothers
Rock