Greg Brown

Critic Josh Kun once characterized singer and songwriter Greg Brown as "a Midwestern existentialist hobo with a quick-draw mouth, a bloodied heart, and bourbon on his breath." Brown ranks among the foremost contemporary folk performers to emerge from the American Midwest, where his songs combine a poetic outlook with an unmistakably grounded tone. His deep, weathered voice conveys both offbeat wit and the enigmas of existence and affection with equal assurance, and across a career exceeding five decades he has cultivated a devoted audience through music that remains sincere and resolutely independent.

Born July 2, 1949, in Fairfield, Iowa, Brown grew up with an English-teacher mother who played guitar and introduced him to literature and melody alike, while his father supported the household as an electrician and scrap-metal trader yet also delivered sermons at a Pentecostal church each Sunday. As the family moved across the Midwest, the boy absorbed an eclectic mix of sounds—gospel, blues, country, bluegrass, classical, and rock & roll. At six he mastered the pump organ and soon learned guitar from his mother. After high school he entered the University of Iowa, entered a talent contest, and took first prize—an opening slot at a campus show by singer/songwriter Eric Andersen. Impressed, Andersen urged the young performer to head east and pursue music professionally. Brown promptly left college for New York, where he secured regular work at Gerde's Folk City, both playing and hosting its weekly hootenanny. A year later he continued westward to Los Angeles, ghostwriting material for Buck Ram, longtime manager of the Platters; although he gained experience meeting deadlines, he disliked the city and returned to Iowa.

Back home he resumed writing and performing, at one point forming a duo with friend Richard Pinney. In 1974 the pair issued the live album Hacklebarney, recorded in Rockford, Illinois, though it attracted little notice. Brown did not record again until 1980, when he independently released his solo debut, 44 & 66. The following year’s The Iowa Waltz found a loyal regional audience, and 1983’s One Night preserved the close atmosphere of his steadily growing concerts. Later that year he joined St. Paul schoolteacher and music enthusiast Bob Feldman to establish Red House Records, which eventually became one of the country’s leading independent folk imprints. Brown’s first Red House album, 1983’s In the Dark with You, earned strong reviews and solid folk-market sales, aided by repeated appearances on the radio program A Prairie Home Companion. His 1986 release, Songs of Innocence and Experience, ambitiously set William Blake’s poems to music and drew further praise, as did 1988’s One More Goodnight Kiss. One Big Town (1989) brought Brown an Indie Award from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors for Best Adult Contemporary Album. In 1993 he recorded the duet album Friend of Mine with Bill Morrissey, earning a Grammy nomination. The Poet Game (1994) secured another Indie Award, and 1995 saw the concert set The Live One. After two more well-received Red House albums—Further In (1996) and Slant Six Mind (1997)—Brown issued 1999’s Solid Heart, the first of several projects benefiting charitable causes. He chose to release the spare 2000 album Over and Under on the smaller Trailer Records imprint rather than Red House; a second Trailer title, Honey in the Lion’s Head, followed in 2004. Following Bob Feldman’s death in 2006 and the label’s subsequent ownership change, Brown placed The Evening Call with Red House that same year, yet for 2011’s Freak Flag he signed with Yep Roc Records.

Brown has been married three times. From his first marriage he has three daughters—Constance Brown, Zoe Brown, and Pieta Brown—all of whom became musicians. Pieta has issued several albums on which her father has appeared as a guest, and the three sisters performed his song “Ella Mae” together on the benefit compilation Going Driftless: An Artist’s Tribute to Greg Brown. In 2002 Brown married his third wife, singer and songwriter Iris DeMent; he later included a version of her song “Let the Mystery Be” on Freak Flag.