Greg Humphreys

Greg Humphreys has spent four decades building a reputation as a vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and bandleader, cultivating a devoted following while moving fluidly across indie rock, pop, R&B, jazz, and acoustic forms. Raised in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, he grew up in a household that nurtured artistic expression; his mother worked as an art instructor while his father, an attorney, performed folk music on the side. Humphreys began playing guitar as a teenager and, during tenth grade, joined classmate Chris Goode to perform the Clash’s “Should I Stay or Should I Go” at a school talent show under the name the Trash—an appearance that led them to develop into an actual band.

By 1988, Humphreys and Goode had dissolved the Trash and started Dillon Fence, a jangly alternative rock outfit shaped by fellow Southern bands the dB’s, Let’s Active, and R.E.M. The group issued its debut album, Rosemary, in 1992 and recorded two more releases while becoming a regional live draw before disbanding in 1995. The members later reconvened for the concert set Live at the Cat’s Cradle in 2001 and added several new tracks to a 2004 retrospective collection.

In 1996, Humphreys and Andy Ware, the bassist from Dillon Fence’s final lineup, recruited drummer Steve Hill to form Hobex, a project oriented toward soul, R&B, and funk. Their first album, Back in the 90’s, appeared on a major label in 1998; although the band achieved solid regional success, it never crossed over commercially, and Humphreys grew weary of constant touring. After releasing Enlightened Soul in 2007, he placed Hobex on hiatus and split his time between acoustic performances with local folk and bluegrass players and behind-the-scenes engineering and sound work for the Music Maker Foundation.

Humphreys issued his solo debut, Trunk Songs, in 2008—a spare acoustic collection drawn largely from material written but unrecorded during his Dillon Fence and Hobex years. He followed with Realign Your Mind in 2010, another acoustic effort reflecting folk, pop, bluegrass, and jazz influences, and continued the eclectic approach on 2011’s People You May Know, which explored his interest in jazz and R&B. After more than two decades in the North Carolina music scene, he moved to New York City in 2012 after beginning a relationship with a woman living there. His 2013 album, Bohemia, indicated that the relocation had not substantially altered his musical direction, although he returned to electric guitar and assembled the Greg Humphreys Electric Trio with transplanted Southerners bassist Matt Brandau and drummer Keith Robinson. The trio’s first recording, the four-song EP Cosmic Irony, came out in 2014, while a broader sample of its genre-blending style was captured on the live album Rock at Live Wood, recorded at New York’s Rockwood Music Hall.