Greg Trooper
Upside-Down Town

  When asked about what place music has in his life Greg Trooper says, "Music is the thing that makes me want to get up and work. I've tried to do other things occasionally, but always, always, always, my real passion is listening to, making and writing music." On his latest release, Upside-Down Town, Trooper shares twelve of his latest creations with the world.

Born and raised in Little Silver, New Jersey, Trooper learned to play guitar about the same time he learned to surf. Only a short bus ride away from NYC, Trooper also spent a good part of his youth attending concerts in the Big Apple. "I went to the Concert For Bangladesh, I saw Merle Haggard, Happy and Artie Traum, and Patti Smith…I drank all that stuff up." His music displays a wide variety of influences – bluesy inflections from R&B coupled with rootsy country melodies and arrangements. Trooper released his first album in 1986, We Won't Dance, followed by Everywhere in 1992. Noises in the Hallway came out in 1995, and in 1998 Buddy Miller produced Trooper's Popular Demons. In 2003 Trooper released his first album on the Sugar Hill label, Floating, which has been in heavy rotation on my iTunes' playlists since I first heard it.  Dan Pen produced Trooper's second Sugar Hill release, Making it Through This World, which brings us to Trooper's latest Upside-Down Town, on 52 Shakes Records.

Trooper handles most of the acoustic guitar parts on Upside-Down Town, but veteran guitar-slinger Michael McAdam adds slide and electric guitar. Co-produced by Trooper, keyboardist Kevin McKendree, and bassist Stewart Lerman, the album's arrangements are designed to let the songs breathe. "First True Love" features Trooper's fingerpicked guitar augmented by a spare bass line and minimalist piano and electric guitar.

Steve Earle, Billy Bragg, Maura O'Connell, Vince Gill, Robert Earl Keen, and Lucy Kaplansky have recorded Greg Trooper's songs. One listen to Upside-Down Town and you'll know why.

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