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Greg Brown | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Gregory Dane Brown |
Born | Fairfield, Iowa, U.S. | July 2, 1949
Genres | Folk |
Occupations |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 1967–present |
Labels | Red House |
Website | gregbrownmusic |
Gregory Dane Brown (born July 2, 1949) is an American folk singer-songwriter and guitarist from Iowa. [1]
Brown was born into a musical family, and his father was a Pentecostal minister. He grew up in the Hacklebarney region of southwestern Iowa, which he describes as "hill country." [2] Brown spent several years traveling with a band before returning to Iowa, where he performed live and pursued his songwriting career. [3]
During the 1980s Brown toured and had recurring performances on A Prairie Home Companion . [3] Brown self-published two albums, 44 & 66 and The Iowa Waltz . Bob Feldman and Susan Ode founded the record company called Red House Records after producing a sold-out concert at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 1990. Brown became its first recording artist. [4] Brown has recorded two dozen albums. In 1986 he released an album called Songs of Innocence and of Experience based on poems by William Blake. His album One Big Town (1989) won an Indie Award from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors [5] and marked the beginning of Brown's long collaboration with Iowa guitarist Bo Ramsey.
The Poet Game (1994), his tenth studio album, saw significant international radio play (charting on AAA and topping The Gavin Report's Americana chart), and received a NAIRD Indie award for singer-songwriter Album of the Year. The Live One (1995) proved to be a fan favorite capturing the humor, warmth, insights and spirit of his live shows. His 1996 release, Further In , topped them all: critics called it a masterpiece and it received a four-star review in Rolling Stone. [6] Brown's 1997 release Slant 6 Mind earned him his second Grammy nomination. [5]
1999 brought the re-release of One Night , a live concert recording from October 1983 originally released on the Coffeehouse Extempore label. His album Solid Heart CD was recorded in 1999 during a benefit concert. Two releases followed in 2000: Over and Under (Trailer Records) and the critically acclaimed Covenant , which won the Association for Independent Music’s award for Best Contemporary Folk Album of 2000. A 2002 tribute album, Going Driftless: An Artist’s Tribute to Greg Brown featured guest vocal performances by Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch, Shawn Colvin, and his three daughters.
In 2006 he released The Evening Call , which Acoustic Guitar magazine described as "among Brown's finest work" [7] and which was featured on an episode of NPR's On Point. [2] A recording of another benefit concert was recorded and released in 2007 under the name Yellow Dog on the EarthWorks Music label. In 2007, Brown was nominated for a Folk Alliance Award.[ citation needed ] In 2010, Brown played Hades on Hadestown , a concept album by Anaïs Mitchell. His most recent studio album, Hymns to What Is Left, was released in 2012.
Brown retired from touring in 2019, although he performed two times in 2023, stating they were his final shows. [8]
In 2024 he released Ring Around The Moon: A Songbook, a collection of essays, photographs, and sheet music. [8]
Greg Brown has been married three times. He has one daughter from his first marriage: Pieta Brown; and two from his second marriage: Constance Brown and Zoe Brown—all three are musicians. He has one son. [9] Brown married singer-songwriter Iris DeMent in November 2002. In 2005, he and his wife adopted a daughter from Russia, Daria Chesnokva Victorona (Dasha Brown). [3]
Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influences from punk, funk, hip hop and jazz. She has released all her albums on her own record label, Righteous Babe.
Jonathan Michael Richman is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. In 1970, he founded the Modern Lovers, an influential proto-punk band. Since the mid-1970s, Richman has worked either solo or with low-key acoustic and electric backing. He is known for his wide-eyed, unaffected, and childlike outlook, and music that, while rooted in rock and roll, is influenced by music from around the world.
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Thomas Richard Paxton is an American folk singer-songwriter who has had a music career spanning more than sixty years. In 2009, Paxton received a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. He is a music educator as well as an advocate for folk singers to combine traditional songs with new compositions.
The Avett Brothers are an American folk rock band from Concord, North Carolina. The band is made up of two brothers, Scott Avett and Seth Avett along with Bob Crawford and Joe Kwon. Mike Marsh (drums), Tania Elizabeth (fiddle) and Bonnie Avett-Rini (piano) are touring members of the band.
Ellis Paul is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. Born in Presque Isle, Aroostook County, Maine, Paul is a key figure in what has become known as the Boston school of songwriting, a literate, provocative, and urbanely romantic folk-pop style that helped ignite the folk revival of the 1990s. His pop music songs have appeared in movies and on television, bridging the gap between the modern folk sound and the populist traditions of Woody Guthrie and Pete Seeger.
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Red House Records is an independent folk and Americana record label in St. Paul, Minnesota. The label was founded in 1983 by Bob Feldman after seeing a performance by Iowa folk singer Greg Brown.
Anaïs Mitchell is an American singer-songwriter, musician, and playwright. Mitchell has released eight studio albums, including Hadestown (2010), Young Man in America (2012), Child Ballads (2013), and Anaïs Mitchell (2022).
Jimmy LaFave was an American singer-songwriter and folk musician. After moving to Stillwater, Oklahoma, LaFave became a supporter of Woody Guthrie. He later became an Advisory Board member and regular performer at the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.
Pieta Brown is a critically acclaimed American artist, musician, producer, multi-instrumentalist, and singer-songwriter who has released eight albums and five EPs. She has performed with artists such as Mark Knopfler, John Prine, Amos Lee, Justin Vernon and Calexico. Although she's considered a folk/indie singer-songwriter, Brown also names country blues and jazz as strong influences on her musical style.
If I Had Known: Essential Recordings, 1980–96 is a two-disc retrospective of music recorded by American folk singer/guitarist Greg Brown.
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Ed Gerhard is an American Grammy Award winning guitarist. He is known for his acoustic fingerstyle guitar playing and lap steel guitar music.
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