ABOUT

Greg Blake - Winner of the 2023 IBMA Male Vocalist of the Year Award

You'll hear it in his voice immediately: the original strain of Appalachian mountain music that lies at the heart of all great modern bluegrass and country.

Greg was born and raised in the mountains of West "by God" Virginia. When he sings, you can hear a voice that connects to the grand old generations of mountain singers, invested with a rich twang and rumbling drawl and the kind of eerily powerful high tenor cry that first inspired the 'high, lonesome sound.'

Greg is the winner of the 2023 International Bluegrass Association (IBMA) Male Vocalist of the Year Award and received a 2022 nomination in that category. In addition, he is a 5-time winner of the Society of Preservation of Bluegrass Music in America (SPBGMA) Guitarist of the Year Award and received a 2024 nomination. He is twice nominated for the SPBGMA Traditional Male Vocalist of the Year Award, and winner of the Kansas State Flatpicking championship.

While growing up in his Appalachian home, Greg was exposed to a constant menu of all the country greats on television and radio. And as he played with GI Joes, Tonka Trucks, and Hot Wheels, singing along seemed the natural thing to do. At the age of seven, he begged his grandma for a guitar so that he could accompany himself singing.

After graduating from high school, Greg moved to Kansas City, where he attended the Kansas City College and Bible School. There, he met Tracey Barlow from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and married her one week after graduation. They had two great kids, Trent and Alayna, a grandson born in 2021 and a granddaughter due in spring of 2024. Unfortunately, Tracey passed away in February 2022. In January 2024, Greg married Joy Sue King and moved to Asheville, North Carolina.

During his time in Kansas City, Greg started playing in more and more bands, eventually recording on 12 albums for bands like the Bluegrass Missourians, The Harvest Quartet, and more.

The HeartLande Quartet began in 1991 with a singing contest and a chance to perform an opening song before the world-renowned Commodores performed in Kansas City, Missouri. Still performing today, the group includes Greg Blake, Jeff Lyon, Fred Lynch and Steve Powell who sing their favorite tunes from across the years … Gospel, Country, Bluegrass and a few other styles along the way.

Greg's career in the ministry took him to Colorado in 2007. A couple of years later, he met banjo ace Jeff Scroggins and his son, Tristan Scroggins, and formed the band Jeff Scroggins and Colorado (2009-2019). Jeff's and Tristan's innovative and virtuosic playing and Greg's traditional yet distinctive singing created a formula for one of the most sought-after bluegrass acts in the U.S. and abroad.

As the band was becoming increasingly in demand, Greg decided to move from his lifelong calling as a minister to the full-time bluegrass scene. In 2015, he released his debut solo album, Songs of the Heart and Home. The album measures him spreading his wings as a vocalist and bandleader, crafting genre-crossing music and following in the footsteps of his idol, Mac Wiseman, to make music that appeals to Bluegrass, Folk, Country, and Gospel fans alike. It's no small thing that Greg was able to gather some of the best musicians and vocalists in bluegrass to join him on his debut solo album, such as 3-time IBMA Female Vocalist of the Year Claire Lynch, K.C. Groves (Uncle Earl), bluegrass icon Laurie Lewis, mandolinist John Reischman, fiddler Blaine Sprouse, bassist Mark Schatz and dobro master Sally Van Meter (who also produced the album). But it's his voice that rings out above them all, earnestly delivering songs of family, love, and life in the hills.

Greg rapidly became known as one of the festival fan's favorite singers, and headlining artists, such as Del McCoury and others, say, "he's a singer's singer." A big man with an even bigger heart, he brings an uplifting joy to the music he knows and loves. Unfettered by genre divisions and unconstrained by tradition, he just follows his heart to find the deep mountain roots of the music, infusing everything he sings with a powerful, soaring spirit.

In 2021, Greg was asked by one of the premier bluegrass bands in the industry - The Special Consensus - to take over the lead vocalist and guitarist role.  In his "spare time," you'll also see Greg in special appearances alongside the likes of Jesse Brock, Jason Carter, and several others. He also continues to perform with his band, Greg Blake and Hometown, who released their album, The View from Home by Greg Blake and Hometown in December 2022.

In April 2023, Turnberry Records released Greg’s solo album, People, Places, and Songs which Bluegrass Today says “exhibits his smooth lead vocals and contains stellar material from start to finish.”  Greg kicks off 2024 with a new single, "It Ain’t Their Heart That's Breaking,” on Turnberry Records and has numerous other recordings in the works.

After touring the world and raising a family, he's poised to become one of the true Appalachian stars of modern bluegrass.