Jackie Greene, an artist rooted in Americana and roots rock, has forged a vibrant professional path that encompasses multiple well-received solo releases, time spent as lead guitarist for the Black Crowes, membership in a supergroup alongside Joan Osborne, and joint projects with Grateful Dead alumni. Across the 2000s he charted an eclectic course, threading his recordings with a grounded folk-and-blues sensibility that carried rock & roll bravado on standout efforts such as American Myth and Giving Up the Ghost. Following an interval of ensemble work, Greene resumed solo activity in the late 2010s, beginning with the album-length Back to Birth and continuing through a run of self-produced EPs that coincided with his relocation from New York to California.
Born Chris Nelson in Salinas, California, Greene spent his formative years beyond Sacramento and launched his musical pursuits there. Drawing from influences including Ray Charles and Bob Dylan, he started composing original material and became a regular presence on the local bar and open-mike scene before signing with the regional independent Dig Music. As a multi-instrumentalist, Greene performed nearly every part on his 2002 debut, Gone Wanderin’. That soul-infused roots recording reached listeners nationwide and prompted his inaugural tour in the fall of 2002. Rusty Nails, a self-produced collection of 2001 recordings, surfaced on Dig in 2003 and was followed by the live-in-the-studio DVD Broken Hearts Dusty Roads in 2004. His third studio album, Sweet Somewhere Bound, arrived on Dig later that year and later transferred to Verve Forecast for a 2005 reissue. One of his compositions, “I Will Never Let You Go,” also appeared on the Brokeback Mountain soundtrack. Produced by Los Lobos’ Steve Berlin, 2006’s American Myth brought a more polished and expansive sonic palette and remains a career peak. It proved his sole proper album for Verve, with 429 Records issuing the subsequent release, 2008’s Giving Up the Ghost. During the same stretch Greene also performed with Phil Lesh & Friends, one of several side projects that dotted his performing résumé.
After the pop-leaning yet sincere Til the Light Comes in 2010, Greene devoted additional periods to the supergroup Trigger Hippy, which included Joan Osborne and the Black Crowes’ Steve Gorman, as well as the acoustic trio WRG, featuring the Grateful Dead’s Bob Weir and the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson. Amid these collaborations he maintained ties with Phil Lesh & Friends and served as lead guitarist for the Black Crowes from 2013 until the band’s 2015 dissolution. Greene later returned to the studio with Berlin producing once more. The well-regarded Back to Birth, whose themes trace a life cycle, emerged in August 2015 on Yep Roc. Early in 2017 he released the first installment of a two-part EP project, The Modern Lives, Vol. 1, followed by its 2018 counterpart, Vol. 2. Each six-track collection found Greene handling engineering and production duties in addition to performing every instrument. Both were tracked in his Brooklyn basement prior to his departure from New York and return to Northern California. His subsequent outing, 2019’s 100% Greene, captured a solo acoustic performance recorded live at the Throckmorton Theatre in Mill Valley, California.
