Scott and I ran up to SF to catch Greg’s CD release party held at the Union Room last night, September 26. We know Greg through West Coast Songwriters. In addition to everything else he’s got going, Greg’s in charge of the monthly Song Competitions that are held in our 10 chapters. I co-manage the Berkeley Competition held the 3rd Monday of the month in Berkeley.

Anyway, Greg has a big heart and makes big-hearted rock indie/alternative music. It’s hard to stay still when Greg fires up his band. Joining him were Dan Buch on drums, JoJo Styles on electric guitar and “Mr. Blyss” on bass. Mr. Blyss’s real name is a fine hoity
toity sounding same with a “the third” after it so he just goes by Mr. Blyss.

Greg is an excellent acoustic guitarstician (that’s my new word, I’m coining it today). He plays all over the place from rhythm-driving rock to delicately picked chords and counterpoints and harmonics. Also Greg’s voice soars, is just plain beautiful to listen to, and his range is incredible. His voice sounds very commercial – in a superb way and yet he makes music that is personal and intimate. He delivers each song with emotional impact.

And the band was just outstanding. JoJo could probably deliver a solo show playing every lick in the repetoire and then some for electric guitar enthusiasts. Dan Buch is just fun to watch. He’s an unobtrusive drummer in that he doesn’t have a lot of upper body machinations going on but the arms and legs are pretty much flying at cartoon pace. And I love it when he stands up to give us the tops of the cymbals so delicately tapped as to almost qualify as another form of percussion. And Mr. Blyss comes with the entire ackage ranging from the slow plucked bass to a driving running bass and then pulling off melodies and melodic grooves while playing the bass. I couldn’t quite figure off how he played the bass line and then through in a few riffs here and there all the while keeping the bass going.

Greg and the band took us on a musical oddysey across 15 songs from his three CDs: Every Drop of Good, Lift and his latest a four song EP, Where You Are. And he mixed them up nicely so that transitions felt smooth even when the songs were polar opposites in style and groove. A lot of the transition is helped along by Greg’s personal style and just great “patter” between songs. He helps you move from the last song and set expectations for the next. I haven’t seen it done better.

The show opened with “Mantra” from Lift. Greg offered up solo guitar and vocals before being joined by the full band who rolled in like a wall. There wasn’t a crack in the sound, very tight. And that’s how they played all night and they had wonderful arrangements and voicings.

The second song “Wally’s Backstage Cafe” from the first CD sounded unusual and at the same time familiar — it was rocking boogie woogie that really swung. You could have danced a bunch of different styles from across three generations to that song. Just fun to listen to and experience.

I can’t go over every song however:

The third song “Reason for the Rhyme” has a great message as do most of Greg’s song. Why do we do things that are hard and offer no “earthly” reward? Because we love doing those things. That’s my poor paraphrasing of a lovely ballad. In this song JoJo offered up some pretty amazing counterpoint melodies.

The fourth song, “Quiet Voice”, off the new EP, is a song of encouragement to make a change. It starts off with Greg’s vocal and guitar solo with the band coming in. The song just builds and builds to a quiet explosion. Very nicely done. Some great lyrics: “If you
change your mind, they might have to too” was very nicely built to and succinctly put.

The fifth song, “Where To”, is also off the new EP. It’s a semi-autobiographical song about not knowing where you’re going but knowing that what really matters is who you are sharing the trip with. A lovely ballad.

Then Mr. Blyss kicked off song number six with a running bass and the rest of the band joined in with a great funky groove. “Your World” is a great “join hands” song. I looked around the room and I felt that others felt it too. Greg is charismatic and he invites you to share his vision. A night of Greg songs is like opening up a window in a tiny room and seeing out to the big beautiful world beyond.

Uh oh, I’m talking about each song… okay… We heard a couple more songs “Lightning in a Bottle” and “Fate” (both from Lift; both strong songs) and then another new one off the new EP – “Always Been You”. This song incorporates simple snippets of nursery rhymes and some great background counterpoint by Jo Jo and such a simple arrangment. A
romantic song quietly and elegantly delivered.

Next up, “Let it Go” from Lift was next. I have to mention this song because it has a great hooky chorus that just soars and is so satisfying.

Then we had a little change in pace: “One in Million” rocks out. It’s like a love bomb. A
lot of people would give anything to be loved the way the song expresses love. Everything pulls toward the message. Arrangement and message a perfect match.
Next in “Phantoms”, Jo Jo got to open with a pretty classic sounding rock solo with liberal use of the wammy bar and distortion effects. Fun!

Then “Kerosene” offered up another change. Greg opened up pickin out the harmonics on the acoustic while singing the opening lines and then the build. And Don on drums drives the band in. A great arrangement with some pulsing grooves.

Our evening closed after a few more songs. And people were genuinely bummed the show was over. The Union Room was about as full as I have seen it. Of course I’ve only been there an average of once a fortnight lately. Steve is building The Union Room’s reputation as a destination club for Indie bands. He is ALWAYS looking for talent, so if your band or if you’re a solo act and you haven’t sent him your cd. Steve is a very nice guy and doesn’t bite.

And if you don’t know Greg, check him out on CD baby and his website. He is very nice as well nd ahe doesn’t bite either. His music will make you sit back and think if you’re in that mood to catch up with the lyrics or you can just cruise a long and enjoy a very smooth ride.