Greg Blake was born in southern West Virginia where he acquired his love for bluegrass and mountain music. Now a Conifer resident, he has twice been nominated for SPBGMA’s “Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year” award. His phenomenal bluegrass guitar playing has earned him nine nominations and five consecutive wins as SPBGMA’s Guitarist of the Year. His debut solo album, Songs of Heart & Home, was released last September.

On the new album, Blake is joined by top bluegrass talents, including members of the band he leads, Jeff Scroggins and Colorado. Guests include three-time IBMA Vocalist of the Year Claire Lynch, K.C. Groves, bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis, mandolinist John Reischman, fiddler Blaine Sprouse, bassist Mark Schatz and Dobro master Sally Van Meter, who also produced the album.

While bluegrass gospel may be one of Greg Blake’s signature talents, he’s certainly not averse to a little rough-and-tumble country singing, and his new album features a blazing bluegrass version of Johnny Cash’s “Hey Porter” that shows off Blake’s razor-sharp and lightning-fast guitar picking abilities. Drawing from a wide variety of song sources, from Cash to Joe Diffie to Ian Tyson to Bill Monroe, Greg Blake has a far ranging set of influences but a powerful Appalachian base to his music that resets these vocal gems in new ways.

A big man with an even bigger heart, he brings an uplifting joy to the music he knows and loves.

TRACKS
1) Sweetest Love
2) Dreaming of a Little Cabin
3) Hey Porter!
4) I Still Miss Someone
5) The Hills of My Home
6) Thinking About You
7) Cruisin’ Timber
8) Summer Wages
9) Home
10) 50 Miles From Nowhere
11) Where I Live
12) Home Is Where the Heart Is
13) Turn Your Heart Toward Home

Originally published in the June 2016 issue of the MMAC Monthly

JUNE 2016 SHOWS:
June 6-9: Pickin’ in the Peaks, Nederland
June 11: Old South Pearl BrewGrass, Denver
June 11: Golden Music Festival, Golden
June 24: The Rock Inn, Estes Park
June 25: Oskar Blues Grill & Brew, Lyons