Reprinted from the Rockville Gazette, July 29, 1998

Folk themes with rock sensibility

You've got to figure anyone calling his latest recording "Mussolini's Head" has politics somewhere on his mind.

With folk-rock singer-songwriter Greg Greenway, playing Sunday at a Rockville house concert following a series of Southern gigs, you don't have to pry far into his past before political discussions surface.

"I grew up in the South, and everything I did in my life - music and sports - put me in an interface with the real world, black, white, rich, poor," said Greenway, who was raised in Richmond in a lower-middle-class family that valued education.

What caught young Greenway's mind's eye was the disturbing disconnect between his evaluation of reality compared with that presented through the eye of network camera lenses.

"You turn on the TV, and people are shiny, pristine and wealthy," said Greenway, 40, who signed on a few years ago with a national music agency called Eastern Front Records.

"Mussolini's Head," which has been out for less than a month, is his second release with Eastern Front. Despite that company's national reputation, Greenway's ambitions steer clear from the mainstream.

"I want to keep values in my music," he said, adding that his goal is to use whatever success he has as a stepping stone to work with talented musicians and "advance" his knowledge.

Later in the interview, Greenway will worry that a discussion of his life will make him come off sounding like he has no sense of humor, or that he's some dreary bore only interested in politics.

But one only has to listen to his music to realize he's much more dynamic and multidimensional than that portrait.

On "Mussolini's Head," there is an inescapable sense of activism, such as the title song's repeated refrain, "Race is a myth. Pure is a lie." But also note the carefree ballad "On My Way to Find Out," whose lyrics include the line, "I'm not a bitter man. I don't spend much time wondering, 'What if?' "

And then come comments from his coterie of fans and supporters.

Maureen Harrigan, the executive director and music coordinator for the World Folk Music Association, said Greenway is "very high energy" in concert.

"His performances are compelling," said Silver Spring-based Harrigan. "You almost feel like you're a part of the performance in that his body and his energy ... just brings you into [the act] physically."

Maria Sangiolo, a New England folk singer-songwriter, said Greenway is "one of the most passionate performers I know. His songs are political and clearly stand for the less-fortunate people in our society." Then Sangiolo continues: "He also writes beautiful love songs and rhythmic anthems."

Yes, he can do a lot. There just happens to be a prominent strain of socio-political interest throughout Greenway's life.

Growing up admiring the music of Richie Havens - "he had a lot of political issues, a lot of social awareness" - Greenway had not thought of music as a career. Although he had played guitar since age 8, he wanted to be a writer.

He entered the College of William & Mary and studied English literature. By his senior year, however, he was penning song lyrics, and his professional goals shifted.

"I was going to put heat on myself to create original music, because it's way too easy to sing other people's stuff," he said. "It's way too easy on the audience, too."

After graduation in 1979, he headed to Boston, where he played on his own and then in a rock band for six years.

That changed in 1990, when Greenway's father died.

"I just had this sort of epiphany," he said, adding that he interpreted the message to be: "Get everything extraneous out of your life." Including the rock band.

So he decided to play a different breed of music.

As it turns out, Greenway does not necessarily label himself a folk singer. His music is more of a hybrid.

"It's folk in tradition of what I'm talking about is the central thing of the music, in terms of political awareness," he said.

Moore Music (In the House) is presenting Greg Greenway on Sunday at 7 p.m. in Rockville. Seating is limited and reservations are required. A donation of $10 per person is expected for the performer. Call Scott Moore at 301-309-0983.