Native to New York City, Craig Greenberg has been heavily involved in the region’s music scene for over a decade and a half. Greenberg has channeled the spirit of classic alternative and soul musicians, such as Billy Joel, Ben Folds and Randy Newman, while blending their influences with new narratives concomitant to his experiences, in his music.
While his performances on stage in New York City-based venues have harnessed crowds of music fans in the Metro area, the timeline of his works begins in 2007, after the release of his rock debut EP The World and Back. Three years later, his second debut EP Spinning in Time receiving national airplay helps to conjure momentum to his career, following his third release (as well as his first full length album) The Grand Loss & Legacy being covered by Huffington Post and ranking the top of RELIX’s Top 30 Radio albums chart.
His 2020 album Phantom Life carries tracks conveying a blend of sounds derived from pop and rock, and lyrical sentiments wielding an axis on life obstacles and opportunities. The Between the Sea and the Sky EP is set to be released on December 16, 2022.
Greenberg’s most recent piece is his single “Quarantine Queen” from September, 2022, which emerged from the period of the COVID-19 pandemic and touches on the frustrations he experienced in his dating life, living in NYC. Craig sat down with NYS Music to discuss his discography and upcoming release of Between the Sea and the Sky.
Heather Occhino: I came across your website and I was reading your bio just to find out more about your background as an artist, so I wanted to ask you, what made you initially pursue a career in music?
Craig Greenberg: Well I actually feel the path chose me.. When I graduated from college and I was mainly just a guitar player I didn’t think I was up for the lifestyle of being a musician. I tried out other creative areas (including comedy writing) and also considered studying creativity for a graduate degree in psychology. It wasn’t until I finished my first few full songs that it started to click in my head that I could actually do it. And then a couple years later when I got my first gig singing in bars (while living abroad in South America), that was my no turning back point.
HO: I read in your bio that your independent work of pop/Americana music started with your ‘The World and Back’ EP back in 2007. What drove you to make music within that genre (were you involved in that music scene growing up?)
CG: I didn’t set out to make music in that genre.. I just got labeled that way. I actually think “Americana” is used as a default when there isn’t a more apt description or if the reviewer is lazy (lol). As far as the “pop” description, I think I’ve always had a good sense of writing hooky melodies, so maybe that’s where that came from.
HO: Going more into your biography on your website, I also saw that your debut album, “The Grand Loss & Legacy” was included in a publication by the Huffington Post and received national airplay and was ranked in another publication as being in the Top 30 Radio albums. (Congratulations) How did that momentum impact you and what did it mean for your career, moving forward from that point?
CG: Well it certainly put me on the map in terms ofindustry recognition.. especially from the singles “That Girl is Wrong for You”, and “Death on the Liberty Line” that got praise from the HuffPost and Relix magazine and received airplay around the country. And that album also gave me confidence to move closer to what my band sounds like live, a more raw and rocking sound. That was rewarding and liberating!
HO: Your latest single that came out last month on the 30th is called “Quarantine Queen”. Is it intended to be about anyone in particular, perhaps someone dear to you in your life?
CG: Well, sometimes my songs are true stories, sometimes they’re based on a true story, and sometimes they’re complete fiction. Quarantine Queen would fall in the last category. It came out of a lonely period during the early days of the pandemic in NYC. I was frustrated with the reality of dating during those weird times and wrote a song about my dream companion to spend lockdown with.
HO: Is this song set to be part of your upcoming EP to be released in December?
CG: Yes
HO: I read that your music reflects the experiences you are going through. That leads me into my next question, which is, do you find that the emotional tones you inject in your music are part of a more spontaneous creative process or do you usually plan prior on what type of energy a project is going to deliver?
CG: I find that the emotional feeling in my songs can come out of my experience, but also could be just a mood I’m in, but for sure it’s never planned in advance–I never sit down and say I want to write a song about this or that topic. Generally I sit at the piano (or guitar) and just see where the feeling in the moment takes me. Though when making an album, the songs I choose to record may be based on wanting to have a variety of mood and energy to give it range.
HO: When and where do you plan on performing next?
CG: Rockwood Music Hall, Dec 21st – it will be the EP release show!
HO: In the last part of your bio, I read that you performed with prominent musicians such as Mike Gordon of Phish, Jackson Browne and Victor DeLorenzo from Violent Femmes. Do you plan on working with musicians like the ones just mentioned again and what has the experience of performing with big names given you?
CG: Well, I would jump at the chance to perform with any of them again. Aside from Jackson Browne, who I’ve had the extreme privilege of getting to know a bit and performing with a few times over the years, the others were more random occurrences. Victor DeLorenzo was at a songwriting event I attended for many years in the mid-west, and we have many musical friends in common, so there’s a decent chance our paths will cross again.
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