Greg Herriges / Telluric Currents
Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States | INDIE
Music
Press
…fabulous crossover world music of the highest quality. …a gifted musician who is able to bring the best sounds from several cultures into one type of intriguing music. - FolkWorld
It Plays Me is an album of amazing sounds. Some will have a familiar tone while others betray origins and inspiration from different cultures. The common thread is excellent performance and style. …will mesmerize anyone who gives it a fair hearing. - Rambles (UK)
A “musician’s musician’s musician” …outrageously talented… I've never seen anyone play with a lighter touch and somehow he plays at top speed and gets in the right place at the right time yet has the time to keep such an open and almost flourishing left hand, all with a smile on his face that shows how much he loves playing his songs.
… the gentle lesson taught by these exceptional musicians: that life is meant to be enjoyed, even or especially when we are doing something that is exceedingly difficult.
- Wild Fruit Folk Music
This guy is an acoustic virtuoso, in the vein of Michael Hedges or Tim Reynolds, very eclectic and very talented. - The Current
The spirit of Middle Eastern, Indian, Chinese, and Indonesian art music infuses Herriges' adept and soulful style. - Center for Independent Artists
… an artistry that seamlessly weaves contemporary, classical, and world-music influences together with stellar craftsmanship, erudition, reverence, and respect. One can hear-and feel-in Herriges's songs his deep love of the music by which he's inspired. - Amazon.com
An excellent CD with a steady eastern-tinged flavor without being totally beholden to the sound.
If you like high-quality music that is hard to put into a category, played by real musicians, this is for you.
- Amazon.com
Discography
It Plays Me (CD) - New Folk Records, 2005.
World Guitar (book/CD) - Hal Leonard publ, 2006.
Telluric Currents (CD) - New Folk Records, 2009.
Guitar Songs for Dummies (books) - five books in the series, publ. by Hal Leonard
Photos
Bio
Guitarist/vocalist/bouzoukist Greg Herriges plays an eclectic mix of original & traditional "whirled music," honed by his study of Asian & other international styles. His music leans heavily toward South Asian territory, with roots in the West & branches reaching worldwide. Having worked with some of the Midwest's greatest exponents of Indian, Chinese, and Indonesian music, Greg Herriges gets equal fulfillment playing with cross-cultural ensembles or letting one guitar play him. VIDEOS AT http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WiWIUo33K24 and www.babybluearts.com
BACKGROUND:
Spent most of his musical life in Minneapolis, MN, USA, where he fronted the avant-rock ensembles Us, A Million Living Things, and Produkt ~ playing lead guitar henchman in the meantime with rock and pop acts Motherlode (with violinist/singer Tracy Silverman), Tim Mahoney, Droplet, and Gini Dodds, among others.
Studied ethnomusicology, with a focus on Asian art music ~ elements of which are dangerously conspicuous in his own songs and guitar style.
Served time as in-house music publications editor at Hal Leonard Publishing and is now on freelance “probation” as a writer/producer of books, DVDs & multi-media for mass consumption.
RELEASES AND AWARDS:
IT PLAYS ME ~ The first full “solo” release, a mostly instrumental, slightly Orientalist CD on New Folk Records, with musical support from Chinese pipa virtuoso Gao Hong, tablameister A. Pavan, and allsorts ethnopercussionist Troy Berg.
TELLURIC CURRENTS ~ a whirled assortment of East and West, original and traditional: acoustic fusion and new takes on traditional Indian, Turkish, and surf-rock music with ethnopercussionist Troy Berg, bassist John Wright, and Indian tabla player A. Pavan; avant-guitar inventions and arrangements of East Asian tunes; and collaborations with Hindustani classical vocalist Pooja Goswami.
Recipient of the Bush Foundation Fellowship for Music Compsition, 2009 - one of the nation's most prestigious arts fellowships.
Recently published Hal Leonard books: WORLD GUITAR (book/CD); ACOUSTIC, ROCK, HARD ROCK, and BLUES GUITAR SONGS FOR DUMMIES (books); GUITAR EXPLORER (book/CD); articles for Guitar Edge magazine.
Music for Theater:
Playing live accompaniment to Zaraawar Mistry’s Children’s Stories from India ~ Performances ongoing
Composed and recorded original & traditional Russian music for Hamline University’s production of Anton Chekhov’s The Cherry Orchard (Fall 2007).
Worked with In the Heart of the Beast Puppet & Mask Theater as composer/live accompanist for Beneath the Surface ~ February/March 2008.
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