Artist: Jackie Greene
Album: Back To Birth
Bitrate: 243kbps avg
Quality: EAC Secure Mode / LAME 3.98.4 / -V0 / 44.100Khz
Label: Yep Roc
Genre: Rock
Size: 91.19 megs
PlayTime: 0h 49min 58sec total
Rip Date: 2015-08-19
Store Date: 2015-08-21

Track List:
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01. Silver Lining                    4:49
02. Now I Can See For Miles          4:43
03. A Face Among The Crowd           4:03
04. Light Up Your Window             3:45
05. Trust Somebody                   5:00
06. Motorhome                        3:22
07. Hallelujah                       6:23
08. The King Is Dead                 3:50
09. Where The Downhearted Go         4:26
10. You Cant Have Bad Luck All The   5:01
    Time
11. Back To Birth                    4:36

Release Notes:
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“We live in such a fast-paced, hectic environment, I wanted to make a record
that would invite people to step back and take their time to listen,” Jackie
Greene says of Back to Birth, his first album in five years. “I wanted to make a
record that would reward people who are willing to sit down and give it a couple
of serious listens.”

Back to Birth – Greene’s seventh album and his Yep Roc Records debut – is more
than worthy of some serious attention.  The 11-song set showcases the
multitalented artist’s uncanny knack for synthesizing his deep affinity for
American roots styles into timeless, personally-charged music.  Armed with a
persuasive voice, a vivid songwriting skill and an instinctive mastery of
several instruments, Greene has carved out a unique musical niche, and the album
marks another creative landmark in his already compelling body ofwork.

Produced by Los Lobos member and frequent Greene collaborator Steve Berlin, Back
to Birth underlines Greene’s remarkable evolution as a performer and writer.
With such new compositions as “Silver Lining,” “Trust Somebody,” “Now I Can See
For Miles,” and the stirring title track, the artist’s distinctive melodic
sensibility is matched with thoughtful, introspective lyrics that confront some
profound philosophical issues with plainspoken eloquence.

“Musically, this album is kind of a return to the simplicity of the records that
I started with, although I feel like I have a much better idea of what I’m doing
now,” Greene observes.”I think the lyrics are the part that have really evolved.
A lot of these songs explore the notion of a cyclical existence, and the sense
that life goes in a circle.  I want the songs to come from a place that’s
meaningful to me, but I also want to keep them as simple and direct as I can.  I
look at old blues songs, or Hank Williams songs, and they’re so simple and
direct but they can convey some pretty deep ideas.”

Although Back to Birth is Greene’s first new solo release in five years, he’s
hardly been idle.  In fact, he’s spent much of the past few years engaging in a
series of collaborative musical adventures that have teamed him with several
notable veterans.

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.  Greene continues to be a frequent member of
Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh’s touring ensemble Phil Lesh & Friends, for
which he has contributed lead guitar and vocals since 2007. Greene 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.

The same qualities that attracted such legendary figures to work with Greene are
prominent throughout Back to Birth, which Greene and producer Berlin cut at
Portland’s Supernatural Sound with a sympathetic crew of mostly jazz-steeped
players, with Greene stretching out on a number of instruments, including
guitar, piano, organ and drums.

“This is the third album I’ve done with Steve,” he says.  “I’ve known him for
about 12 years, and he’s really good at challenging me and getting it out of me.
We know each other well enough at this point that we can be blunt with each
other, and he’ll tell me that I’m full of it if that’s what I need to hear.”

The musical passion and creative integrity that drive Back to Birth have been
constants in Jackie Greene’s musical life from the start.  While growing up in
Northern California, he taught himself to play piano and guitar.  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,
SusanTedeschi, 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.

“The musicians that I really admire and try to emulate are the ones who have the
whole package: they’re great songwriters, great singers and great
instrumentalists, and they have a vibe about them that’s real,” he states,
adding, “When I go to make a record, I’m not thinking about where I can fit in a
bunch of guitar solos.  I’m thinking, ‘What does this song feel like?  What’s it
saying?’  So my goal, when writing a song or making a record,is to find the core
of that emotional experience and convey that.”

Although he’s already racked up a multitude of impressive musical achievements,
Greene isn’t one to look back.  Instead, he continues to look to the future –
and looks forward to getting back on the road to bring Back to Birth’s soulful
songcraft to the loyal,wildly diverse fan base that he’s built through talent,
vision and hard work.

“I still plan on making a lot of different kinds of records in the future, but I
can’t tell you what they’re going to sound like, because I really have no idea,”
he asserts.  “All I can do is write songs and make music as honestly as I can.
That’s what I believe people appreciate about what I do.  They trust me to be
honest with them, and I’d never want to abuse that trust."

