I’ve always liked musicians who mix things up in a live show and aren’t afraid to dive into a new genre, comfortable their artistry and talent aren’t confined to a single style. Â Over the years, Joan Osborne has been a poster child for that, doing everything from 90’s pop ballads to covers of Motown classics to being the “backup chick singer” for The Dead. Â Her latest endeavor, Trigger Hippy, features a fellow musical traveler, Jackie Greene. Â Greene has been down an equally interesting path, starting out with literally garage recordings in his teen years to performing with Bob Weir and Phil Lesh, to being lead guitarist for The Black Crowes. Â Greene’s latest project is a solo record, his seventh, called Back To Birth.
This record is a little more introspective than much of his previous work.  Silver Lining is about adapting your expectations to  reality and “everyday…finding that silver lining inside me”.  A Face Among the Crowd explores the burden of fulfilling parental expectations when “I hope I’m half the man you thought I’d be.”  And the title track goes to the other side of the equation when a dying parent looks back at his proudest accomplishment being his children.  These and a few other tunes are rewards for sitting down in a quiet moment and really listening to the story.  They’re emotional, and I can’t imagine what it must be like for Greene to perform them with family in the audience.
Not all the songs on the album carry the heavy baggage, though.  Motorhome is a quirky take on the free spirit theme–call it Free Bird for the intellectual set.  The King Is Dead is a fun one looking at how the world has changed in a more populist era.  Hallelujah reminds us of the virtues of living a good life and having a glorious afterlife…and 2/3’s of the way through breaks into a raucous inner city gospel revival from the staid, traditional service at the beginning.
 Although he’s not a household name, Jackie Greene has a heck of a musical resume.  His new record, Back To Birth, is evidence of that experience and offers a lot for anyone who takes a few minutes to really listen to it.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.