Looking for a different experience than your average Thursday night? Consider checking out Greg Farley’s concert at Radio Bean in Burlington on Thursday, Aug. 23. It’s a late night (show starts at 10:30 p.m.) but you said you wanted something different, right? Make a night of it: go get dinner, walk along the lake, stroll up Church Street and head over to Radio Bean — one of the best casual-funky bars in the Queen City.
Born in Highland, N.Y., a small town on the Hudson River, Farley comes from modest roots. His dad was a teamster who drove tractor trailers and his mom worked at the A&P. In 2006 he began touring out of his car, playing house shows, small bars and on the street. For merch, he’d burn CDs, wrap them in road maps and stamp a “GF” on the front. He traveled this way from the East Coast to California and back.
Back east, he was lent a fiddle by a friend and took up learning old time tunes from players like Ruth Ungar and Rudy Efram, before joining The Felice Brothers (Catskill N.Y.) He played and recorded with them for the next 10 years, toured internationally and made it onto the Billboard 200 list. He also played as a member of Conor Oberst’s backing band for his 2017 solo LP “Salutations.”
To make some extra cash, Farley worked odd jobs like mucking stalls on a horse farm, waiting tables at a vegetarian restaurant, working as a carpenter, arborist, woodworker and sawmill operator.
Now striking out on his own with his debut LP “Taker Easy,” recorded in Stanfordville, N.Y., he mines his own history for stories of class struggle, nature, love, pain, work and family, all set against the backdrop of the Northeast. He’s on the road promoting the release of his new single “Risk it All” in preparation for the release of his new record. At the end of the day, Farley has nothing to lose and something to say, and he’s saying it from the gut.
Learn more about Farley at gregfarleymusic.com. And more about the show at radiobean.com/calendar.