LATENT ROCK STAR

There’s a song on Jackie Greene’s new album, Giving Up the Ghost, that sounds like an outright dismissal of the first commandment of rock ‘n’ roll—that music can change the world. In I don’t live in a dream, the singer and songwriter considered by some an heir to the Gram Parsons roots-rock maverick tradition, confesses, “I don’t live on the moon ... I don’t live in some land forgotten ... I don’t pretend to make the world feel better ... I walk the same Earth you do, I live right here with you.”

It’s a reflection of the way the 27-year-old musician has come to see himself. He’s more a regular Joe than the Next Big Thing in pop music, something that’s been predicted for him routinely for at least five years.

“I think every record I’ve put out there’s been somebody who’s said, ‘This is it—this is the one!’ After a while you stop listening and just do what you do,” said Greene.

His songwriting acumen has earned him a place alongside such celebrated contemporaries as Ryan Adams, Bright Eyes’ Conor Oberst and Jack White. And he’s not one of those indie rockers to whom the thought of a hit record equals “sellout.” “Who wouldn’t want one—why lie about it?” he said. “I’m not interested in trying to manufacture a hit, but yes, it’s something I do want.”
-Randy Lewis (LAT-WP)