Alastair Greene on putting yourself in uncomfortable or new places

From studying at Berklee Music College to playing guitar for the legendary Alan Parsons, Greene has developed a relentless work ethic and a versatile skill set, ranging from transitioning from a blues-oriented sound in his solo work to writing charts for saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter when he played in the Bender Brass and even performing in Sugar Ray Rayford’s band in the late 2010s. When speaking to Greene over Zoom, he explained how putting yourself in uncomfortable and new places is a useful part of the journey for artists.

“In hindsight, you can sort of go back and sort of chart your path. It's again, sort of saying yes to opportunity. It's like you have to put yourself into uncomfortable or new places, especially as a musician, if you want to grow,” Greene explained. “I mean, as a human being, of course. But like as a musician, it's just like saying yes to something where it's like, fuck, I hope I can pull that off and when you do, it gives you the confidence to keep that sort of attitude. It goes back to the thing at Berklee. It's like you either step up and get better and whatnot. Or there's a lot of other things to do that are probably safer ways to make a living,” Greene finished.

That’s certainly been a key theme in Greene’s career thus far. After earning an invite to perform inside Alan Parsons’ home studio by DJ Mike Dawson, Greene was subsequently produced by the legendary Parsons as he was recording overdubs. Greene’s performance seemingly caught Parsons’ eye as he invited Greene to perform on his ‘A Valid Path’, becoming one of two guitarists to feature on the album. The other? None other than Pink Floyd’s David Gilmour.

What came into the decision to leave the Alan Parsons project?

Due to Godfrey Townsend’s unavailability, Greene received an invitation to tour the West Coast with Parsons - an offer he gladly accepted. It was a role that later became permanent, with Greene subsequently spending seven years in the Alan Parsons Project. However, after a successful stint working with Parsons, he opted to leave in 2017. But what came into the decision to depart?

“I basically realised that if I was going to do my thing, that I couldn't stay there. I met a lot of great people and I got some really good connections as far as people that work at gear companies and stuff. I mean, I put out a handful of albums and I actually got my first record deal with a legitimate blues rock label in 2014. And I put out a record called Trouble at Your Door. And so, things were kind of happening on the blues rock solo career front,” Greene explained.

“And it's just like, well, do I want to stay and do this blues festival and make whatever I'm going to make for that? Or do I want to go on? I mean, because it came down to I need to make a living. This is what I do. And so I would constantly be kind of turning down these opportunities to grow my brand. And at a certain point, it was like, man, I'm never going to get to do that. If I keep and I don't want to say chasing the money, but I mean, that was part of my decision. Since I've left, they have all the same guys except for the guy that replaced me. I mean, it's a great gig as a side guy. You get paid fairly well, you get treated really well and you get to go play these fat shows.

“I mean, what's not to love about that? But if you want to do your thing at a certain point, you have to go do your thing or you're just never going to,” he finished.

After spending seven years in the Alan Parsons Project, Greene subsequently gained a very loose connection with the video game Grand Theft Auto 5. The acclaimed game, which was released back in 2013, featured the track - ‘I Wouldn’t Want To Be Like You’, one which he went on to perform countless times while with the Alan Parsons Project.

“I was aware that one of his songs was the Chicago Bulls basketball team theme song. But I didn't realise that his music had made it to gaming,” he said when asked about the loose connection. “I feel like I'm reaching the younger generation somehow,” he joked. “I'm reaching the youngsters somehow. I didn't play on the original, of course, but we did a couple of live records when I was in the band. So there's some live versions of me out there singing that song,” he added.

“Your brain only has room for so many songs”

Greene, who now lives in Austin, Texas, previously lived in California - his home state for much of his life. During his time living in California, Greene had a chance encounter with saxophonist Jimmy Carpenter, who he volunteered his services to. Subsequently, it saw Greene performing with the Bender Brass in 2017. The guitarist’s Berklee attendance paid dividends

“That was a really good opportunity for me,” he admitted. “Going back to music school, I learned how to write charts. I know how to learn, figure out songs. I'm not the fastest or the best at it, but I'm able to do it. And so I was like, yeah, man, if you need some help and it's just like, oh, man, I need this and that. I might need a guitar player to back up a couple of these artists. And I was like, great. And so I learned some songs and made some charts and showed up.

“And he's like, oh, you know how to make charts and write charts. I'm like, well, yeah, because I mean, in the blues world, I mean, there's a lot of very knowledgeable people in the blues world, but on a whole music is usually learned as it's passed down. It's not necessarily written out. It's not charted a lot of the time. But when you're backing up artists and you're getting into some R&B and there's foreign parts and you have to learn a lot of material that isn't just kind of standard blues forms, you need to be looking at something a lot of the time because your brain only has room for so many songs, especially in a short amount of time.

“So I did that and then I was asked to kind of do that a few more times. My band went back and then that's also where I met Tab Benoit. Because he was playing the bender. He plays the bender every year. And so I met him and I was playing with Alan Parsons at the time. And so I was introduced to Tab Benoit as Alan Parsons' guitar player. I came to find out, Tab's in the production of 70s music. And so that was something that he was curious about and into. Not everybody in the blues world cares about Alan Parsons' music. It's so far removed from blues. And again, just the guitar player in me just wants to play music. The solo artist in me wants to play blues and blues-related music. So, it's not like the Alan Parsons thing isn't necessarily something that's helped me in my blues career. It's sort of like one thing leads to another,” Greene finished.

“Hope that things start lining up and doors open as you keep going”

In Greene’s case, one thing certainly led to another. After meeting Benoit, he subsequently signed for Benoit’s Whiskey Bayou Records, releasing ‘The New World Blues’ and ‘Alive In The New World’ on the label with Benoit serving as the producer and engineer on both records. But how did the pair come to click so well?

“Having worked with Alan, having done these things, I think that that was one of the reasons why he liked or wanted to work with me because I wasn't coming from a typical blues place necessarily. And quite honestly, I think the other part of that is, I mean, he is hilarious. He is one of the funniest people I've met in my life, not even just music. I like to think that I can be pretty funny too at times. And so when we met, we kind of clicked on that level, not even really related to music, just bouncing off of each other with comedy. I mean, he actually used to be a stand-up comic for me. He's really funny,” Greene said.

“I think he'd heard me play a little bit and he'd heard enough people talk about me that I was flattered and honoured that he asked me to come make a record with him. Because in earnest, when you talk about somebody's career and you talk about how their career goes and you talk, there's this word getting a break. I need a break. All I need is a break, man. And, you create your own breaks. Unless you're young, extremely talented, look maybe a certain way or fitting in with something.

“And, there's people that get breaks early on and that's great. And then for the rest of us, you just have to keep saying yes and keep these things going and hope that things start lining up and doors open as you keep going. And I really consider my record deal with Tab and my subsequent touring with him. I opened close to 90 shows for him coming out of the pandemic. That really was what I consider one of my biggest breaks as a solo artist was getting to do that,” Greene finished.

You can catch the Alastair Greene Trio and The Southern Rock Band at Barnoldswick Music & Arts Centre on Monday evening, with tickets available at https://www.barnoldswickmusicandartscentre.com/the-southern-rock-band-alastair-greene. You can also read the first two parts of the interview with Greene at https://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/alastair-greene-on-grasping-opportunities-with-both-hands-8751162 & https://www.burnleyexpress.net/news/alastair-greene-on-making-hard-work-pay-off-8751523