|
MAY 2012
I'm Voting AGAINST Amendment One on Tuesday May 8th, and I hope you'll do the same. Read an interesting article about the subject, if you're uninformed or on the fence. Here's my youtube version of the Laurelynn Dosset-penned tune, Vote AGAINST Amendment One - have a listen and share. We need to beat this and set an inclusive, open-minded trajectory for North Carolina. MAY DATES Bringing a band of HOBEX All-Stars (Andy Ware, Mark Raudabaugh, Dave McCracken, Cyril Lance, Robert Cantrell, Tim Smith) to an outdoor stage at the Lincoln Theatre on Saturday, May 12th, for The NC Beer & Band Festival! Enjoy unlimited samples of North Carolina's best beers, NC bands on two stages, and food trucks. It'll be from 3 - 8 pm... you can buy advance tickets and get more details here. Have a couple of Memorial day weekend shows before I head to the EU this Summer. Bringing an Organ Trio (Doug Largent, Eric Mrozkowski, and myself) to Hillsborough NC on Friday May 25th for their Last Fridays Concert Series, held on the Old Courthouse lawn at 6:30 pm. Returning to the second annual NC Hops and Roots Festival for an afternoon solo set on Saturday May 26th. It'll be at the Shakori Hills Festival site... come see me before i fly across the pond! EU SUMMER TOURDATES Headed back to Europe! Playing the United Islands Festival again (third year in a row) in beautiful Prague CZ. So psyched! I will have a familiar band of talented Prague-based cohorts (De Kuzmin, Anar Yusufov, Ben McGarr et al) backing me up for this HOBEX International set. We'll be on the Garage Stage this year. Here's my Itinerary for June and July - so far, shows booked in CZ and UK. Still working on dates in DE, DK, and NL... more to be announced soon. June 13 RedRoom Prague CZ June 15 James Joyce Pub Prague CZ June 23 United Islands Festival, Prague CZ June 29 James Joyce Pub Prague CZ June 30 Mosaic House Prague CZ July 21 Squeeze Cafe Leigh-on-Sea UK July 26 Lock Tavern London UK July 27 What's cookin' at Birkbeck Tavern London UK Had a great April. Our closing HOBEX All-Stars set on Sunday night at Shakori Hills Festival was epic; after moving into the Dance Tent because of rain, we enjoyed vocal turns from Jeanne Jolly, Cyril Lance, Sol, Tim Smith, Lizzy Ross, and Andy Ware. We ended up morphing into a funk orchestra jam session as well, with sit-ins from members of Suenalo, Kairaba, Driftwood, Big Fat Gap, and more. At one point, we had 4 guitars, 4 horns, and 4 percussionists on stage. Whew, hope somebody taped that one! Sunday morning's Song Circle was inspiring as well, if a bit damp. Here's a photo travelogue of Spring Shakori from my personal FB page, if you'd like to peruse. Still working on songs and recordings for a follow-up to People You May Know; 'til then, have a preview listen to a newer song, Sayin' What You Mean. Enjoy May, and I'll see you down the road. Cheers, Greg p.s. Had a wonderful time in Prague CZ in the Summer of 2011. I'd like to thank my EU hosts Bill Pixley, Mason Pitts, Spencer Flow, AJ and Judith Terlouw, Kathy Zeigler, Mary Liles, Ian Hudson, as well as all of my new friends across the pond. What an amazing Summer of music... I'm very excited to have connected with you and so looking forward to my next visit. Here's a cool performance of my song Only One of Me for Balcony TV Prague's youtube channel. Also, I've posted some photo galleries of my travels over at my personal facebook page, if you'd like to have a look. PEOPLE YOU MAY KNOW
People You May Know is a series of character sketches inspired by experience, observation, imagination, and affairs of the heart. You may know these people. You may even be one of these people. Every song is a story. Of course, the album title is also a wink and a nod at social networks' current ubiquity and how these networks have changed our interactions with the world. They connect and reveal us to each other, but their presence can also serve to isolate us or complicate relationships. People You May Know is my third solo album, following 2009's Trunk Songs and 2010's Realign Your Mind. While I'm still hewing roughly to the troubador's path, my genre adventures in songwriting continue. Jazz Standards, Soul Classics, Folk Songs, Beach Music, Murder Ballads, and Classic Pop Hits (among other things) flavor the gumbo this time around. Many of these recordings were realized with the able collaboration of some very talented musicians and songwriters: Pianist Eric Hirsch, Bassist Peter Kimosh, Drummer Stephen Coffman, Guitarist Gibb Droll, multi-instrumentalist / engineer Eric Fritsch, Bassist Aaron Oliva, and songwriters Nancy Armstrong and Brian Ashley Jones. Thanks to these folks for their help. As always, Thank *YOU* for listening. Greg Music video for Running Away from People You May Know. Check out thisA 15 song playlist of some live youtube highlights from the last year or so.
"People You May Know," "Realign your Mind," and "Trunk Songs" CDs are available online here via paypal. Please specify which CD(s) you want! All three albums are also available on iTunes, Amazon, and other digital outlets.
RECENT PRESS Blurt Online album review
 
© 2011 Greg Humphreys  |
