Greg Sover
Get yourself ready for some shreddin! We bring on incredible bluesman Greg Sover to talk about his journeys to Philly, from Brooklyn and finding his talent for the guitar.
In This Episode
- The child of Haitian immigrants, Sover was raised on Konpa music, which lays an important foundation in his style along with the English language songs of Bob Marley and Cyndi Lauper.
- He starts to learn more and more American styles – country, pop, R&B, rap, and of course…the blues. Greg authored an article for American Blues Scene titled “How I Hear Music”.
- Along the way he also has found his voice, which is sharing stories that are relatable and seek to create unity and work through issues together, not just overcome them.
- We feature a couple songs from Greg, including the incredible observe Hendrix gem “Remember” that includes Hendrix bassist Billy cox. Greg also performs acoustically.
Biography
The self-declared Brooklyn-born guitar slinger was “mesmerized” by the acoustic instrument owned by his father, a Haitian immigrant who would play Kompa tunes for his son – a rhythmic native music from his homeland described by Greg as most resembling salsa. His father gifted him with his own instrument, not a toy, but a real guitar, small enough for a kid to use.
Greg cut his performing teeth as a bassist in the church while in his teens, then played guitar in various bands, including heavyweight champion Joe Frazier’s group, before “muscling up” as a vocalist and bandleader himself.
Sover has released 3 full-length albums and 1 6-song EP, with his most recent LP 2023’s His-Story which includes legendary bassist Billy Cox of the Jimi Hendrix Experience and Band of Gypsies on two songs.
