Acoustic Guitar Sessions Presents Jackie Greene

Versatile singer-songwriter Jackie Greene offers a pair of tunes from his Back to Birth album, plus a Grateful Dead classic.

Impossible to pigeonhole, the Northern California singer and guitarist is all over the map stylistically, drawing from folk, blues, R&B, gospel, and pop/rock influences—sometimes in the same song—and blending them into his own amalgam. He’s equally comfortable playing solo acoustic or screaming electric with a full band, and he brings an unmistakable authority and authenticity to everything he touches. It’s no wonder he has been tapped to collaborate with artists ranging from former Grateful Dead members Phil Lesh and Bob Weir to the Black Crowes, Levon Helm, Govt. Mule, and so many others.

Back to Birth was produced by Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin, who also worked on two more Greene discs, American Myth and Giving Up the Ghost. When Greene bopped by for this AG Session, he chose to play a couple of songs from the new album, “Light Up Your Window” and “A Face Among the Crowd,” plus his soulful cover of the Dead’s “Sugaree.” You can see more Jackie Greene in our earlier Session with Trigger Hippy, featuring Jackie and singer Joan Osborne.