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REVIEW - Fervor Coulee: Roots Music Opinion
https://fervorcoulee.wordpress.com/2023/03/29/greg-blake-people-places-and-songs-review/

The 2022 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year Nominees were a surprise.

Not that Danny Paisley (three previous wins), Del McCoury (six-time recipient, including ultimately in 2022), and Larry Sparks (two previously, but not since 2005—what’s up with that?!) were nominated, a deserved resurgence for the senior-statemen, perhaps.

What was significantly surprising was the inclusion of two less-heralded but deserving singers, Rick Faris (who had built a name for himself singing and playing with The Special Consensus for more than a decade) and Greg Blake.

Greg Who? some may have wondered.

Blake’s nomination was most appreciated by this listener. ‘bout time, too. Simply by being placed within the five nominees for this prestigious award signaled that Greg Blake’s career is most definitely on the rise, garnering more votes for Male Vocalist of the Year than frequent nominees and winners including Russell Moore, Buddy Melton, Shawn Camp, Junior Sisk, Tim O’Brien, and the Gibsons.

Not that this is a competition, but simply being mentioned within the company of those great singers would be an accomplishment. To be considered at their level? High cotton, as some might say. (I wouldn’t, because I’m Canadian.)

Who is Greg Blake again?

Greg Blake has been playing bluegrass as his full-time pursuit for less than a decade, but has jammed into those years a wealth of experiences building on a lifetime of playing and singing bluegrass music. After moving from his West Virginia home to pursue a career in the ministry, he started playing with bands in the Kansas City area. Years later, Blake teamed with Jeff Scroggins in his band Colorado, and over the next decade helped the group become a staple on the festival circuit.

Since Colorado disbanded in 2019, Blake has joined The Special Consensus and also plays with Jesse Brock, Jason Carter, and others. No shortage of high-calibre gigs for Blake, then. When he has time, he also fronts his own Hometown, who released a very impressive recording this past winter, The View From Home. His personable manner of singing, friendly demeanour, and larger-than-life grin makes Greg Blake a favourite from the first time encountered

Blake had previously released Fervor Coulee favourite Songs of Heart & Home in 2015, and returns now with his latest ‘solo’ project, People, Places, and Songs on Turnberry Records.

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Track by Track Info
1. I’ll Be Loving You – 3:00
(David Stewart, Taylor Corum)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Jacob Metz; banjo, tenor vocals
Jesse Brock; mandolin, baritone vocals
Aynsley Porchak; fiddle
Mark Schatz; bass

2. The Other Side of the World – 3:17
(Aaron Bibelhauser)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Jacob Metz; banjo, dobro, tenor vocals
Dan Boner; baritone vocals
Jesse Brock; mandolin
Aynsley Porchak; fiddle
Mark Schatz; bass

3. Not Far From Hope – 3:10
(Greg Blake, Jeff Walter)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Kayla Buckley; harmony vocals
Tony Dingus; steel guitar
John Gardner; percussion
Aaron Jaxon; electric guitar
Jesse Brock; mandolin
Aynsley Porchak, Dan Boner; fiddles
Mark Schatz; bass

4. A Miner’s Tale – 3:47
(Becky Buller, Michael Cleveland, Deborah Payne, Vicki Simmons)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Michael Prewitt; mandolin, harmony vocals
Greg Cahill; banjo
Dan Eubanks; bass

5. On Down the Road – 3:48
(Barbara Gordy)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Tim O’Brien; tenor vocals
Jacob Metz; dobro
Jesse Brock; mandolin
Aynsley Porchak; fiddle
Mark Schatz; bass

6. When Lonely Came to Town – 2:56
(Brennen Leigh, Thom Schuyler)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Carolyn Routh; harmony vocals
Jacob Metz; banjo
Jesse Brock; mandolin
Aynsley Porchak; fiddle
Mark Schatz; bass

7. Cold Wyoming Morning – 3:33
(Bobby Powell, David Stewart)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Michael Prewitt; mandolin, harmony vocals
Dan Eubanks; bass, baritone vocals
Greg Cahill; banjo

8. From Me to We – 3:11
(Greg Blake, Jeff Walter)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
HeartLande (Fred Lynch, Steve Powell, Jeff Lyon); harmony vocals
Tony Dingus; steel guitar
John Gardner; percussion
Dan Boner; electric guitar
Jesse Brock; mandolin
Aynsley Porchak, Dan Boner; fiddles
Mark Schatz; bass

9. The Christmas Cookies – 3:04
(Tom Griffith, Martha Trachtenberg)
Greg Blake; lead vocals
Andy Leftwich; guitar, mandolin, fiddle
Josh Swift; dobro
Kevin “Swine” Grantt; bass

10. People, Places and Songs – 3:22
(Greg Blake, Dawn Kenney, David Morris)
Greg Blake; guitar, lead vocals
Claire Lynch; harmony vocals
Mark Schatz; bass, banjo, harmony vocals
Jesse Brock; mandolin
Aynsley Porchak; fiddle
Jacob Metz; dobro


… from the CD liner notes:
I am honored to be asked by my friend Greg Blake to tell you a bit about him and this record.

Greg is quite the unique individual. You won’t find many folks who are:
• from Appalachia - West Virginia to be exact, AND...
• fully Lebanese by ancestral heritage and parentage, AND…
• served for 30 years as pastor of four churches in Kansas City and rural Colorado, AND is...
• one of the most respected and awarded singers in the bluegrass field
• and quite an expert guitar flatpicker, winner of multiple flatpicking awards
• and has held down since 2021 the lead singer/guitar chair in Chicago’s renowned bluegrass band, the Special Consensus.
• and is just starting to write songs, in his 50s.

It’s nigh impossible not to like Greg's singing. It makes me think of the great Mac Wiseman, whose amazing career, spanning the 1940s-2017, won him many fans as “the Voice with a Heart”. Greg’s distinctive singing, like Mac’s, has impeccable tone and articulation, and most important, communicates “from my heart to your heart” as Bill Monroe would say. There’s a friendliness and sincerity in Greg’s singing that pulls the listener in and has established him as one of bluegrass music’s top vocalists.

I hope you readers get to see and hear Greg as he tours the U.S. and beyond with Special Consensus. Even if you don’t, this record will open a window for you to get to know someone I think of as “the 21st century's Voice with a Heart”.

- Pete Wernick