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NEWS JANUARY 2010 HAPPY NEW YEAR! Looking forward to it. Have a few shows in January and February to tell you about... getting my touring year off to a great start this weekend opening for Chris Smither at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville PA on Saturday, January 9th. On Sunday January 10th, I'll be in NYC at Banjo Jim's, sharing the bill with my friend Chip Robinson - a great songwriter and former frontman for the Backsliders. My set is at 9 pm and Chip's is at 10. Hope you can make it! Been wanting to play a NY solo set for a while now; thanks to Chip for making it happen. I've just added a show in Chapel-Hill NC for Friday, January 15th at Local 506. I'll be playing an acoustic set at 9:30 pm, followed by Bustello and The Public Good. Bustello is a fantastic new group featuring singer-songwriter Ben Clarke (Metal Flake Mother), John Plymale (Sex Police, Pressure Boys), and Jody Maxwell (Sex Police, Sea Cow). Just lined up some great folks to join me for this month's Public Nudity Songwriters' Night at the Broad Street Cafe on Tuesday, January 26th - Snüzz and Shawn Luby. Winston-Salem based Britt "Snüzz" Uzzell is one of my fave songwriters... he's had a huge positive influence on the NC music scene over the last twenty years. Snüzz continues to face a serious health challenge, but he is making the trip to play us some of his new songs. I just worked with Shawn Luby in 2009, producing a record for his Durham based indie-folk band Humble Tripe. Shawn is a great young songwriter with a deeply personal songwriting style. Should be another enjoyable night of songs - hope you can make it. Thanks to everyone who has been coming out! FEBRUARY Have a few good shows booked in February... I'll be returning to the Atlanta GA on February 13th, opening for Steve Forbert at the Red Light Cafe. I'll be stopping by Charlotte NC's Evening Muse on my way home the following night (Saturday February 14th) to sing a song or two for the Tribute to Bill Withers. Headed to Memphis TN for the 22nd International Folk Alliance Conference. My Official Showcase is on Thursday, February 18th in the Chattanooga Room - looking forward to seeing some friends there. Public Nudity Songwriters' Night #5 at the Broad Street Cafe is lined up for Tuesday, February 23rd. Joining me will be Caitlin Cary (Whiskeytown) and Matt Douglas (The Proclivities), playing songs from their new group The Small Ponds. OTHER STUFF Had some great December shows. Here's a youtube vid of All You Know Is Blue from my Carolina Christmas Tent Revival set - a cool little jam featuring members of Big Fat Gap, Mandolin Orange, and Andy Thorn of Emmit-Nershi Band. Thanks to Eric Chen for filming this. The Christmas CD sale went so well that I'm extending the deal: - all five HOBEX CDs for $25 Email me at my address on the contact page with your address and request. I will send you a link to pay via paypal and then mail them to you. I'd be glad to sign any copies as well. More soon, Greg Trunk Songs has received some nice press -
News and Observer "...one of the definitive Chapel Hill anthems" - David Menconi
Independent Weekly "...these tracks prove Humphreys is capable of mostly anything" - Chris Parker
Yes Weekly "...yet another feather in the cap of a North Carolina treasure" - Ryan Snyder
Winston-Salem Journal "...a document of one man‘s musical journey and a quiet testimonial to musical integrity." - Ed Baumgardner
Mountain Xpress "...comes on like a gentle breeze but contains the power to knock the listener for a loop.." - Alli Marshall
 Our Spring '09 Shakori Hills HOBEX performance is now available on Itunes, Emusic, Rhapsody and other digital services! Recorded by festival soundman John Lloyd, This is a great sounding set running though favorites from our various albums. Longtime bassist Andy Ware and I were joined by Guitarist Gibb Droll (Keller Williams, Brandi Carlile, Marc Broussard), Drummer Rob Ladd (Roger Daltrey, Don Henley, Pressure Boys, Don Dixon, Let's Active etc.), Organist David McCracken (Donna the Buffalo, CJ Chenier), and vocalist / percussionist / Chapel-Hill favorite Taz Halloween. I have uploaded a track, Rollin' 4/16/09, to our Reverbnation music player at the HOBEX site, if you'd like to check it out!
While Gibb Droll was in town doing some Trunk Songs dates with me earlier this year, we found the time to do a few recording sessions in between shows . We got down a great version of Gibb's song Birmingham, a nice cover of Blue Velvet, and a few numbers that we wrote on the spot. We thought you'd enjoy it so we're releasing some tunes digitally as an EP called Bull Session. Also featured on the EP are my sister Ann Humphreys on vocals and virtuoso John Garris on Fiddle. Now available on Itunes, Rhapsody, Emusic and other digital outlets. My solo dates in the Pacific Northwest were incredibly fun, thanks to my buddy Andrew McKeag of the Presidents of the United States of America. He played some smokin' guitar, put me up, and drove me around to all the gigs. What a friend! Also got to watch The Presidents rock a Microsoft party... heh heh. Taper Dan Schram has posted a nice recording of my recent solo Trunk Songs set opening for the Carolina Chocolate Drops at Cat's Cradle. It's on Archive.org - you can download or stream it right here! Hope you enjoy it. On the production front, I recorded most of the basic tracks for the new Dynamite Brothers CD Again. Tracks from the album have already appeared in the HBO series East Bound and Down and the CD has just been officially released. The album has a fantastic funk / soul / punk / garage hybrid sound - Check it out here! I recently finished recording and mixing an album called Counting Stars for a great local folk group called Humble Tripe; Counting Stars will soon to be released on 307 Knox Records. I've also been working on a strong batch of songs of my own for another solo release, and my sister Ann and I have been recording an EP together. A song from my Trunk Songs CD, Buttons and Strings, is on an new compilation release distributed by Redeye called Homegrown Music for the Soil. The proceeds from this compilation will benefit Feed the Farm, an organization created to help family farmers in NC. The track listing includes a great roster of central North Carolina artists: Tift Merritt, Midtown Dickens, Chatham County Line, Carolina Chocolate Drops, Caitlin Cary and Thad Cockrell, Squirrel Nut Zippers, Megafaun, Mike Slaton and The wheels, Tres Chicas, Southern Culture on the Skids, The Proclivities, Two Dollar pistols, and The Moaners. HOBEX's recent Bandtogether event with The Rosebuds, Chatham County Line, and Rusted Root raised over $ 125,000 for the Lucy Daniels Center. Joining me for our HOBEX Bandtogether set: Andy Ware on Bass, Rob Ladd on Drums, David McCracken on keys, and Taz Halloween on vocals. To get a taste of this line-up, check out Tom Laney's youtube videos of Natural Child, Groove Baby, So Far Away, and Playin' Games from our April set at Shakori Hills Festival (also featuring the amazing guitarist Gibb Droll.) One of my Dillon Fence songs, Living Room Scene, was recently named one of the 100 Greatest North Carolina songs by Yes! Weekly. Honored to be included. It's an interesting list - check it out if you're a fan of NC music. I've been working on a follow-up to Trunk Songs. I have some new songs I'm really excited about. My recent solo set and interview for Sessions at Studio B is now archived at their site - surf over and have a listen. Here are a couple of Trunk songs reviews from Carla Kucinski Seward at GoTriad and Brian Tucker at Bootleg Magazine that are not online:
Bootleg Magazine - October 10th 2008 - by Brian Tucker
Greg Humphreys is a music staple in North Carolina, consistently creating music as a solo artist or in bands Dillon Fence and Hobex for two decades. But with each incarnation Humphreys maintains majestic beauty and heart - solidarity. Vocally he’s coarse and smooth, cool and whispered with a tinge of sass. He’s an old soul; bluesy and jazz entrenched, yet layered with as much citified essence as the cold dirt in the country.
Humphreys has always bridged regions with his own melodic sensibilities. On Trunk Songs Humphreys does something he’s always wanted - an album of acoustic numbers, some recorded with friends, others recorded in spare fashion. Whittling arrangements down centers Humphreys’ spirit and sound, stripping the ambiance of indy rock or the electric soul of albums like the Payback EP. Trunk Songs places Humphreys where he really shines – alone and raw. Trunk Songs may be acoustic but it stands tall, sounding large. ‘I Cover the Waterfront’ elicits a New Orleans rich and soulful delivery, taking the standard and giving it a gentle rustic ambiance. ‘Buttons & Strings’ is tender and gentle, lovingly executed, sounding like James Taylor if he channeled Otis Redding. The bluesy ‘Natural Child’ is stripped, Humphreys’ voice forward and booming. There’s the elegant ‘Faded Beauty’ that exercises restraint against a background of melancholy. Humphreys sings tenderly, Do you dream of me / like I dream of you. He switches things up with the country slow walk of the banjo rich ‘Crazy as a Loon’.
The album is steeped in character and personality; note the lament for a good dog on ‘Old Shep’. At times a love letter to his musical past and a means to tie up loose ends, Humphreys has something with these Songs. Trunk Songs may or may not spark a new direction for Humphreys but it certainly adds another color to his palette in which to play around with.
GoTriad - September 25, 2008 - by Carla Kucinski Seward
While reading an Irving Berlin biography, the phrase "Trunk Songs" - unused songs tossed into a trunk - inspired Greg Humphreys to record his own trunk songs. Recorded at various locations, including his back porch, the album instantly engages the listener with its intimacy and rawness and Humphrey's soothing vocals. Humphreys, who is accustomed to fronting bands (Hobex), sounds right at home in this role. Favorite track: "One Song Away"
 
© 2008 Greg Humphreys  |
If you'd like to listen to Trunk Songs, it's streaming at 
