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In rock, there’s a continental divide between cover bands and original music.

It’s not as widely discussed, but a similar rift exists in blues. There are some musicians who are happy to walk in the footsteps of the greats, content to recreate old recordings. Then there are others who, while honoring their musical ancestors, seek to make their own mark.

Greg Schaber is firmly among the latter, a strikingly original singer, musician and composer who has found his own, unique voice in the blues.

An accomplished, award-winning electric blues guitarist, for the past 15 years, the Kentucky native has increasingly focused his considerable talents on acoustic blues, in styles from deep Delta bottleneck guitar to the lighter, countrified finger picking of the North Carolina Piedmont. Along the way, he has given props to such Kentucky blues guitar greats as Sylvester Weaver and Merle Travis. And, while many electric players dabble in acoustic blues, Greg has completely immersed himself in the traditions of Charlie Patton, Blind Blake, Mississippi John Hurt and other greats, playing the old sounds with unparalleled conviction and skill 

Performing on a wide array of vintage instruments, including the seldom seen (and even more rarely heard) harp guitar, Greg uses his firm grounding in traditional styles as a base camp from which he cuts his own path. The result is a sound all his own, at once old-timey and completely contemporary, familiar yet new.

Larry Nager
Award-winning music journalist
author of That Memphis Beat