Wishing Well - 2001
“A transplanted Southerner with serious chops on the acoustic blues guitar....Boerner makes you feel as if you're sitting on the back porch with him as he's pickin', grinnin', and passin' the bottle....easy listening on your own back porch (or in the coffee shop, as the case may be). ”
– Jim DeRogatis, Pop Music Critic Chicago Sun-Times
“When it comes to top flight original blues, ballads, and folk, you won't find a more skilled practitioner around these parts than singer-songwriter/guitarist Greg Boerner. His new CD Wishing Well is rife with outstanding original material, expressive vocals, and dexterous finger picked guitar. Boerner's songs, with folk, old timey, country, and on occasion even Latin grooves spicing his mainly blues-based approach, are well-written and confidently delivered. You can't ask for much more than that. ”
– Kevin Toelle , Blues Editor Illinois Entertainer
“Once vinyl wears through its grooves and CDs begin to stutter with rot, you'll still hear Greg Boerner, worrying a Freddy King lick to death, doing everything he can to attempt to capture Ray Charles and maybe even wink at Tom Waits by allowing a bit of distortion to creep into an otherwise acoustic affair. Boerner's sophomore effort, Wishing Well - self-produced, self-penned and self-played (but for a bit of piano here and a trap set there) - effortlessly wears its influences on its sleeves, and you get the feeling Mr. Boerner wanted it this way. The authority of the blues here is pervasive; Greg doesn't think twice about snatching a lyric straight out of a nearby Chicago club circa 1950, as on "Two Time Woman " or the title cut. And he does this blatantly and proudly, making that link and giving respect where it is so obviously due. The album's best track, "Thing Of Her Own " finds Boerner in a sneakier mood, slipping in the stray Cuban influence and an insinuating bit of electric guitar. "Bus Departure ", the CD's closer, is a lazy shuffle the aforementioned Freddy King never got around to writing. But this is not a blues album. It's a firelit album by a songwriter showing, with each release, a growing ease and command. ”
– Bruce Miller, writer, teacher, banjo player, self-professed music junkie, gardener and a contributing writer for Magnet magazine. For better or worse, he holds an MFA in Fiction from Goddard College
– Jim DeRogatis, Pop Music Critic Chicago Sun-Times
“When it comes to top flight original blues, ballads, and folk, you won't find a more skilled practitioner around these parts than singer-songwriter/guitarist Greg Boerner. His new CD Wishing Well is rife with outstanding original material, expressive vocals, and dexterous finger picked guitar. Boerner's songs, with folk, old timey, country, and on occasion even Latin grooves spicing his mainly blues-based approach, are well-written and confidently delivered. You can't ask for much more than that. ”
– Kevin Toelle , Blues Editor Illinois Entertainer
“Once vinyl wears through its grooves and CDs begin to stutter with rot, you'll still hear Greg Boerner, worrying a Freddy King lick to death, doing everything he can to attempt to capture Ray Charles and maybe even wink at Tom Waits by allowing a bit of distortion to creep into an otherwise acoustic affair. Boerner's sophomore effort, Wishing Well - self-produced, self-penned and self-played (but for a bit of piano here and a trap set there) - effortlessly wears its influences on its sleeves, and you get the feeling Mr. Boerner wanted it this way. The authority of the blues here is pervasive; Greg doesn't think twice about snatching a lyric straight out of a nearby Chicago club circa 1950, as on "Two Time Woman " or the title cut. And he does this blatantly and proudly, making that link and giving respect where it is so obviously due. The album's best track, "Thing Of Her Own " finds Boerner in a sneakier mood, slipping in the stray Cuban influence and an insinuating bit of electric guitar. "Bus Departure ", the CD's closer, is a lazy shuffle the aforementioned Freddy King never got around to writing. But this is not a blues album. It's a firelit album by a songwriter showing, with each release, a growing ease and command. ”
– Bruce Miller, writer, teacher, banjo player, self-professed music junkie, gardener and a contributing writer for Magnet magazine. For better or worse, he holds an MFA in Fiction from Goddard College
Nowhere - 1998
“Although singer/songwriter/guitarist Greg Boerner first made his name in Georgia and the Carolinas as a fret-burning electric guitarist playing blues and roots rock, he's now settled in the Chicago area to concentrate on his adept acoustic guitar stylings and impressive original ballads, pop tunes, and blues compositions. His new CD Nowhere is rife with complex finger picking, evocative vocals, and well-constructed songs. Originals like "Seven Gables Stomp," "Sun Prairie Ramble," "Father and Son," and the moody title track reveal the many facets of this talented artist. The only cover on the disc is a skillful interpretation of Bob Dylan's classic "Don't Think Twice (It's Alright) ". ”
– Kevin Toelle , Blues Editor Illinois Entertainer
“Greg Boerner is an Augusta, GA, transplant. And fans of the blues can be thankful that the guitarist-singer-songwriter (notice the guitar is listed first) moved here. On his debut CD, Nowhere, Boerner (pronounced "Burner") transports listeners along a road that runs from his southern hometown to Madison. It's the blues tempered with a country and folk flavor that drives the CD. Although he is just 30, Boerner uses a finger-picking guitar style that reminds one of '50's masters.”
– Natasha Kassulke, Wisconsin State Journal
“It's Greg Boerner's debut CD and includes what feels like a musician and singer recently discovering his talent as a songwriter. Yet, the guitar playing is seasoned, tasteful, deeply rooted and downright hot. With the opening instrumental, "Seven Gables Stomp ", it's as if he has appeared in your living room - just the guitar and the foot for percussion with the sweetness of Chet Atkins mixed with the unadorned force of Merle Travis. Yet, Boerner is more bluesy than either of them. His phrasing is perfect and the voice sounds secure and wise. From the liner notes, but really, from the music, it feels Boerner is bursting at the seams to get this out, possibly to move it out of the way to make room for more. With Boerner, it's not so much what he says but how he says it, lyrically and otherwise. We've hit musical times where the innovators of the past are drawn on more than ever to help usher in something new with often disastrous or instantly dated results. Greg Boerner ain't even worryin'. He's got his guitar, his family and his growing talent and confidence. That's what I hear on this CD and it's that which will grow more immeasurable and sustainable throughout his life. What else is there?”
- Bruce Miller, writer, teacher, banjo player, self-professed music junkie, gardener and a contributing writer for Magnet magazine. For better or worse, he holds an MFA in Fiction from Goddard College.
“Greg Boerner's guitar expertise leaves no doubt the Elvis and blues fanatic is musically older than his actual years. ”
– Don Rhodes , Entertainment Editor The Augusta Chronicle
nationally syndicated columnist, "Ramblin' Rhodes", Augusta, GA
“Great guitar, strong vocals...I heard as much Elvis and Buddy Holly in his music as Woody Guthrie, which is something of a relief these days! ”
– Pierce Pettis , Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter
– Kevin Toelle , Blues Editor Illinois Entertainer
“Greg Boerner is an Augusta, GA, transplant. And fans of the blues can be thankful that the guitarist-singer-songwriter (notice the guitar is listed first) moved here. On his debut CD, Nowhere, Boerner (pronounced "Burner") transports listeners along a road that runs from his southern hometown to Madison. It's the blues tempered with a country and folk flavor that drives the CD. Although he is just 30, Boerner uses a finger-picking guitar style that reminds one of '50's masters.”
– Natasha Kassulke, Wisconsin State Journal
“It's Greg Boerner's debut CD and includes what feels like a musician and singer recently discovering his talent as a songwriter. Yet, the guitar playing is seasoned, tasteful, deeply rooted and downright hot. With the opening instrumental, "Seven Gables Stomp ", it's as if he has appeared in your living room - just the guitar and the foot for percussion with the sweetness of Chet Atkins mixed with the unadorned force of Merle Travis. Yet, Boerner is more bluesy than either of them. His phrasing is perfect and the voice sounds secure and wise. From the liner notes, but really, from the music, it feels Boerner is bursting at the seams to get this out, possibly to move it out of the way to make room for more. With Boerner, it's not so much what he says but how he says it, lyrically and otherwise. We've hit musical times where the innovators of the past are drawn on more than ever to help usher in something new with often disastrous or instantly dated results. Greg Boerner ain't even worryin'. He's got his guitar, his family and his growing talent and confidence. That's what I hear on this CD and it's that which will grow more immeasurable and sustainable throughout his life. What else is there?”
- Bruce Miller, writer, teacher, banjo player, self-professed music junkie, gardener and a contributing writer for Magnet magazine. For better or worse, he holds an MFA in Fiction from Goddard College.
“Greg Boerner's guitar expertise leaves no doubt the Elvis and blues fanatic is musically older than his actual years. ”
– Don Rhodes , Entertainment Editor The Augusta Chronicle
nationally syndicated columnist, "Ramblin' Rhodes", Augusta, GA
“Great guitar, strong vocals...I heard as much Elvis and Buddy Holly in his music as Woody Guthrie, which is something of a relief these days! ”
– Pierce Pettis , Guitarist/Singer/Songwriter