Jackie Greene inhabits a unique musical niche that blends American roots styles into timeless, personally-charged music that is defined by his persuasive voice, vivid songwriting skill and instinctive mastery of several instruments. His latest album, Back to Birth, released in August 2015, comes after five years of collaborative musical adventures that have teamed him with several notable veterans that began in 2007 when he became a frequent member of Phil Lesh & Friends playing lead guitar and vocals for the Grateful Dead bassist’s touring ensemble.
In 2013, Greene joined the reunited Black Crowes as lead guitarist on their worldwide tour, and the following year released the self-titled debut album of supergroup Trigger Hippy, which Greene is a member of along with Joan Osborne and Crowes drummer Steve Gorman. He has also toured as part of WRG, an acoustic trio with the Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and Black Crowes frontman Chris Robinson, and he performed with Levon Helm as part of Helm's fabled Midnight Ramble shows.
Growing up in Northern California, he taught himself to play piano and guitar during his childhood. His musical reference points shifted radically when, at the age of 14, he ran across a cache of his parents' vintage rock, country, blues and R&B LPs in the family's basement. Still in his teens and inspired by his discoveries, Greene began writing songs and performing them at a local coffeehouse while recording his compositions in his makeshift garage studio and burning CDRs to sell at his gigs. He saved the money he made selling those discs to fund his debut album, the self-produced, self-released Rusty Nails. Despite being a D.I.Y. release with minimal promotion, the disc received substantial regional attention from fans and press alike.
His popularity led to a deal with a local independent label, which released his second album, Gone Wanderin', in late 2002. The disc won considerable national attention, leading to a series of national tours opening for the likes of B.B. King, Buddy Guy, Susan Tedeschi, Huey Lewis, Mark Knopfler and Taj Mahal.
Greene continued to win critical acclaim and expand his fan base with 2004's Sweet Somewhere Bound and 2006's American Myth. In 2007, Greene began moonlighting with Phil Lesh and Friends, while continuing his own musical evolution with his own releases Giving Up the Ghost and Till the Light Comes, released in 2008 and 2010, respectively.
