Jackie Greene - The Modern Lives Vol. 1 (2017)

Discovered at an open-mike night when Dig Music's owner happened to be there, singer/songwriter Jackie Greene is a captivating performer who works well in simple, sparse environments. Signing to the label almost immediately, the California native worked countless clubs and bars before his discovery, a fact made more interesting when considering that he was a teenager at the time. A multi-instrumentalist, Greene played most of the instruments on his debut record, Gone Wanderin'. A soulful bit of roots music, the album brought him to a national audience and sprung him into a college tour during the fall of 2002. Rusty Nails, a collection of self-produced material from 2001, was released by Dig in 2003, followed by the live-in-the-studio DVD video Broken Hearts Dusty Roads in 2004. Sweet Somewhere Bound appeared on Dig later that same year, and was licensed to Verve, which reissued it in 2005. Produced by Los Lobos' Steve Berlin, his first proper album for Verve, American Myth, appeared in 2006. In 2008, Greene released Giving Up the Ghost, his first album for 429 Records. The pop-infused but still heartfelt Til the Light Comes followed in 2010. Taking time out to perform with supergroups Trigger Hippy (with Joan Osborne and the Black Crowes' Steve Gorman), acoustic trio WRG (with Grateful Dead's Bob Weir and the Black Crowes' Chris Robinson), and Phil Lesh & Friends, and joining the Black Crowes from 2013 until they disbanded in 2015, Greene returned to the studio to record his seventh album, again with Berlin in the producer's chair. The acclaimed life cycle-themed Back to Birth was released in August 2015 on Yep Roc. Two years later Greene returned with a new EP, Modern Lives. Part of a planned two-volume collection, the six-track set, which found Greene assuming the roles of both engineer and producer -- as well as playing all of the instruments -- was recorded in his Brooklyn basement. Academy Award-nominated artist Bill Plympton animated the video for the EP's ebullient title track. ~ Bradley Torreano