Jackie Greene @ City Winery, June 8

Over the last few years Jackie Greene has dazzled legions of Deadheads during his stint in Phil & Friends with his soulful voice and ability to deftly switch from guitar to keys. Last Tuesday night the 29-year-old singer-songwriter, who has been putting out albums of his own since 2002, was in town to play an intimate sold out gig at the haute music venue City Winery.

[All Photos By Jeremy Gordon]

The show, broadcast live on WFUV, got underway shortly after 8PM as light from the setting sun and passing traffic headed to the Holland Tunnel poured into the large floor to ceiling windows of the street level restaurant-concert hall. The seated audience, who were enjoying gastropub fare and sipping on fine vintages, whooped enthusiastically as Greene took the stage with his three-piece backing band.

Dressed coolly in a black vest, t-shirt and white fedora Greene kicked things off with the mellow country-rock grooves of Shaky Ground, the lead track from his upcoming album Till The Light Comes, that hits stores on June 29. Greene used the majority of his hour-long set to showcase material from the new record to a very receptive audience that often shouted his name between tunes, performing most of the ten track album which he co-produced with Tim Bluhm of The Mother Hips.

READ ON for more thoughts and pictures from Jackie’s show…

While the majority of songs were just as new to me as everyone else, standouts included the retro-grunge sounding Medicine, the coffeehouse folk of 1961 – which Greene performed solo acoustic and the rousing barroom rocker Till The Light Comes. It was the set closing pairing of two older tunes – the bluesy-stomp of Tell Me Mama, Tell Me Right and the rootsy Like A Ball And Chain – that received the loudest responses of the night, even getting certain members of the crowd to get out of their chairs to boogie down. While only obligated to play his allotted time for the radio audience, Greene asked if he could play a couple more, graciously appeasing the now rowdy crowd with two solo acoustic numbers. Jackie ended the night with a stirringly tender version of the Grateful Dead ballad Brokedown Palace that would have made Jerry proud.

Jackie Greene – 2009-06-08 – City Winery – New York, NY

Shaky Ground, Medicine, I Don’t Live In A Dream, I’m So Gone, Moment Of Temporary Color, Spooky Tina, 1961, Till The Light Comes, Shaken, Tell Me Mama Tell Me Right, Like A Ball And Chain

Encore: Holy Land, Brokedown Palace

Jeffrey Greenblatt

Jeff joined the Hidden Track team full-time in 2008 and helps guide the site in his role as Managing Editor and Social Media Coordinator. Each week Jeff pens Pullin' 'Tubes, Tour Dates and Bloggy Goodness in addition to features, video posts and more. Jeff is a graduate of The George Washington University ('98), with a degree in Journalism, and has worked in the media and technology industry for the likes of MTV, VH1, A&E and Joost.

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