Greg Sover is a multi-faceted songwriter, guitarist, and vocalist from Philadelphia who through solo work and through working with bands, has explored Blues traditions extensively, and more recently, operated through a blend of Blues and Rock. His 2020 EP, The Parade, spoke to much of what the entire world was experiencing in terms of upheaval and a big need to address social issues, but for his full-length album, His-Story, which was just released via Grounded Soul Records, Sover took quite a different approach. His focus fell on writing from his own life’s observations and experiences rather than trying to address more sweeping ideas.
In that soul-searching, he found plenty of material to work with and was particularly drawn to idea of being honest about the chaos and conflict present in any human life. Once he had that idea in mind for the album, he approached bassist Billy Cox, the last living member of Jimi Hendrix’s Band of Gypsys, about recording Hendrix’s song “Manic Depression” since he felt it perfectly fit the ideas of his album. Not only did Cox agree to play on the song, but also asked if Sover would record a lesser-known Hendrix song, “Remember” and include it, too. Of course, Sover agreed, and has been honored by the way that Hendrix’s music fits into the course he knew that he needed to pursue for His-Story. I spoke with Greg Sover about these realizations and his current perspective on these new songs.
Hannah Means-Shannon: It’s been a while since I last spoke with you, and in the meantime, your son has been born. It’s been a crazy time in the world and having a child must bring that all into focus.
Greg Sover: Whatever I’ve needed to focus on, I’ve really had to focus, because it’s not just Greg Sover, now, it’s “Greg Sover and Company”. [Laughs] It’s been a thrill. I have had the sleepless nights, the waking up early. It’s not as bad anymore. But I’m enjoying this experience of being a dad and watching this guy grow up. He’s now climbing. I can’t believe I’m a dad!
HMS: Does it make you more aware of trying to say who you are through your music, knowing he is going to hear it and have questions about you?
GS: Yes. It’s a different perception. I agree. Reputation becomes important around that time. I guess you might want to leave something so that when you leave, it’s easy for him to pick it back up and it’s there waiting for him. I want to make things as smooth as possible for him. It’s made me very motivated, and it’s actually made me feel young. This is an experience for me too, and I’m having a good time. [Laughs]
HMS: The themes and the ideas on your previous EP, The Parade, were quite serious and direct in many ways, but I think musically, this album is even more of a statement. There’s a confidence there that I think works really well.
GS: This whole album’s been a journey. We started about two years ago. Part of what makes me happy when I see that the music sounds more defined is that I had to let a band go when I felt that it was time for a sound with more “umph” to it. I had an engineer who also passed away on me in the middle of all of this, too. I had to wait until a good friend of mine now, Jim Salamone, came along. Ever since we met, it’s been magic. I put a good band together for the album of solid musicians, trying to get the music close to how I drew it up in my head.
Some of the musicians I had play with me were Billy Cox, who played with Jimi Hendrix, David Uosikkinen from The Hooters, Kenny Aaronson, who played with Bob Dylan. It was a great team.
HMS: Building the sound was part of building who was going to be in that studio, I’m sure.
GS: Yes, and this is my fourth album, so I kind of know the ropes. You become more polished the longer you do things. I tried to stay true to myself. With making The Parade, I began to feel like I got a sense of what audiences wanted from me. So this album I addressed that in as honest a way as possible. I really wanted to put real experiences of mine on this album, whereas with previous ones, I feel like I was always trying to give people a solution. I tried to stick to what I was going through myself.
HMS: I actually felt like that when listening to the album. Listening to “Freedom, Part 2”, I was aware that this was not a song about solutions. It would be so tempting to create a song about solutions, I know.
GS: What I’m realizing as well is that a lot of people don’t like to be preached to! And as human beings, when we have sorrows, sometimes we just want someone to tap us on the back and sympathize with us. There were a lot of those little things in this album. I felt like I was probably being a little too preachy before.
HMS: It’s understandable when you see all the problems in the world. It’s the difference between thinking about things and taking a more intuitive approach, which might be more about experience. People connect with real human experiences and keeping them company in that.
GS: I agree. It’s not that we don’t want the answers, but some of us need to figure things out ourselves and take our time figuring it out. We don’t want to be told how to figure it out. [Laughs] I’m one of those people, too.
HMS: What was satisfying to me listening to this album was the sense that here you were writing from your life. It’s coming straight from you.
GS: Yes, for sure. There’s also the aspect of how an album sounds and being appealing. I want to stick to my core here, but also make the music such that you’ll find it and like the music. I tried to be both artistic and realistic about that. I’m very proud of the obstacles I’ve overcome to make this album and the feedback I’m hearing from people. It’s witnessing growth. I definitely wanted to sing on this album more, and play the guitar, but still focus on making good songs and good music.
HMS: I also saw that you played a Jimi Hendrix night in Philly in June. Was it just you or a group of artists?
GS: It was just me! It was two fifty-minute sets of Jimi Hendrix. To tell you the truth, I don’t know if Jimi ever did two fifty-minute sets! It was so much fun. I got the news about six months ago and ever since that I was studying Jimi Hendrix the whole time. It was bitter-sweet when the night was over and I moved back to my own music. The people loved it! It was a packed crowd and they want me to come back again.
HMS: Did you do the vocals, too?
GS: Oh, yes, I did vocals and guitars. I had a good bassist and drummer, pretty much like Jimi had. I even threw some songs in there that people might not recognize.
HMS: That’s terrifying! That is such an impressive thing to take on.
GS: I had some anxiety some days. It just made me get more focused! It’s not something to be taken lightly.
HMS: Now, since you were working with Billy Cox for this album, when I looked at the songs that you guys chose, my first thought was, “They did not take the easy road here.” I feel like you chose songs that were challenging and unusual. Was that the point?
GS: Number one is the challenge. I’m probably always going to challenge myself. Number two is to give the audience what they want, and it just so happens that the audience does want the most difficult stuff. [Laughs]
HMS: Can you tell me more about this Hendrix song “Remember” that you and Billy recorded? I heard it’s less known in the USA and that the original recording was not easy to hear.
GS: Well, “Remember” was a song that was going to be rerecorded and them Jimi passed away, unfortunately. But there was a Hendrix song I wanted to record, “Manic Depression”, because I felt that it definitely goes with the album and what I was trying to say. So Billy Cox and I interacted about that song, and then he actually suggested, “Can we do that song ‘Remember’ that I was going to re-record with Jimi Hendrix?”
I’m pretty sure that there were a lot of people he’d met before he met me, so this was not something I could say, “No” to. It’s something I’m honored by since these opportunities don’t around every day. For someone who was close to Jimi Hendrix to think you’re worthy of anything in that caliber makes you realize that you must be good.
HMS: That must be incredibly emotional as a guitarist, but also as a vocalist! You’ve come a long way as a vocalist, too.
GS: Thank you for that. I do pride myself on the guitar side of things first. The audiences have made me realize that they really think my guitar playing is cool, but they also really like my voice and the way that I sing my songs. I had to get better at that. It took me a while to realize how important the song is versus the instrumentation. Trust me, if I could just get on stage and play guitar solos all day, that’s what I’d be doing!
Going back to “Remember”, that’s kind of when I got a grasp on that because Billy actually liked the way my voice sounded on that song, so hearing it from him was pretty good!
HMS: I think that song is difficult because it has a sweetness and simplicity to it that you can’t fake. It’s either there or it’s not.
GS: Yes. As you hear in Jimi Hendrix’s version, that really opens your eyes. It can seem like such a simple song, but there are key changes as the song goes on. It’s genius in the sense of how simple it is, but at the same time, it’s really complex.
HMS: What attracted you to the song “Manic Depression”?
GS: It was the chaos. On this album, I wanted to speak, not just about depression, but the form of it where you feel that something is not working out or you’re going through crazy times in your life. I’ve always loved that song. It kind of sums up what I’m talking about on this album. I wanted to make this song sound chaotic, since that’s the way I hear it. There was a chaos about that song that I wanted to add to the album.
It almost sums up what I’m speaking about on this album. Almost every song is about some kind of want, or desire, or chaotic tendency to live on the edge. But not so chaotic that you need rehab, or something like that, just chaotic in the sense that there’s a lot going on and you’re trying to figure it out at this point.
HMS: There’s a ton of energy there, but it’s like an uncertain energy, that turns first in one direction, then another.
GS: Yes, that’s exactly it. You know you want to do something, but you’re not sure what. The way that “Manic Depression” is written, it gives you that feeling.
HMS: This really does fit with your other songs, because the songs “Temptation” and “Living on the Edge” particularly have that feel.
GS: Yes, it’s where you’re battling something. With “Temptation”, I suggest that through ideas like heaven, but it is addiction, it is a lot of things that are not good for you, but you can’t stay away from them. “Living on the Edge” portrays that as well, where you’re on that journey, and you’re doing all these things that are probably out of character for you.
That’s like what we were staying earlier, this is sticking to the subject and saying what’s really going on rather than trying to provide a solution. Those two songs really are examples of that. You’re hearing what I’m troubled by or what journey I’ve been on. The songs may sound cool, but they are not innocent songs, if that makes sense.
HMS: Knowing your Blues background, I really loved the sound on “Temptation”, too.
GS: Yes, I owe it to the Blues. I learned a lot of Blues in Philly and that’s my home. I will always throw Blues songs in there for audiences. You should always show them where you come from. Never forget where you came from.
