Bio
Make no mistake...Greg Boerner is a straight-shootin', clean livin' guitarist/singer/songwriter who performs like some kind of a road-hardened guitar maniac on one song, a 1950's pop idol on another, a Southern troubadour on the next - and at last blows you out of the galaxy with an antique blues tune that might well give John Lee Hooker pause.
Greg Boerner (pronounced "Burner") shows a musical maturity that favors traditional forms of blues, folk, country, roots rock n' roll and all that comes between. His songwriting reflects this eclectic mix and Boerner cites Ray Charles, Tom Waits, Willie Dixon, Mose Allison, Gregg Allman, J.J. Cale, Bob Dylan and Willis Alan Ramsey as a few of his influences. Audiences feel quite at ease with where he takes them - as if they are being taken to an old familiar place, but by way of a Southern back road that only Boerner knows. His "blues based" performances are immaculate, emotional and convincing, standing proudly on the shoulders of B.B. King, Bo Diddley, John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf and all the giants that have come before.
Boerner hasn't always been an acoustic solo performer. He was a much sought after sideman with an electric guitar steeped in traditional blues and roots rock n' roll. At 18, he was touring the Southeast playing the cool rockabilly of Carl Perkins, Gene Vincent and Elvis as if he had been born to it. Through the years he found his singing and songwriting were being appreciated as much as his potent Stratocaster. Countless bands, gigs and hot licks later, he arrived on the solo scene, discovering the simple and direct pleasures of just voice and guitar.
But the rock n' roll attitude of those younger days has never left him. It is the very thing that separates him from the majority of singer/songwriters who offer an audience a pleasant "folk" experience - but little more. Boerner's audiences, on the other hand, are quite used to him expending more energy and passion playing one song than most of us are born with.
Born and raised in Augusta, Georgia, but spending the last 20 years in the Midwest, Greg Boerner now lives in Nashville, TN with his amazing, brilliant and lovely wife, Annie. In addition to his five cds, his music can be heard on several album compilations, a few (very) independent films and as a sideman on various recording projects. He can be seen performing at clubs, coffee houses, cafes, listening rooms, house concerts and festivals and has opened shows for Leon Russell, Patty Larkin, Old 97's, Robbie Fulks, Tinsley Ellis, Shemekia Copeland, Claudia Schmidt, Willy Porter, Bill Morrissey, Chris Smither, Pierce Pettis, Jack Williams, Maria Muldaur, Gove Scrivenor and Wayne Toups.