Greg Cornell & The Cornell Brothers

Original roots music from Brooklyn. Songs of redemption and hope.

"Cornell visits the deep, looming sense of longing that's often tied to bluegrass or folksy tracks...and steers clear of any cliches."--Connor Feimster, Mind Equals Blown

NEW ALBUM RELEASE IS NEAR...and upcoming shows...and a Great Cause

May 29, 2016  /  Greg Cornell

NEW ALBUM: The release is nigh! Come On Home, our new 10-song album of originals, is at the manufacturer, and will be available--online at CD Baby, iTunes and on this site--before the official August 2 release date. The sound of this record is just what we were after, which is why we chose to work with three-time Grammy winner Justin Guip (he won for his engineering and mixing of Levon Helm's final two records). And my good friend Adam Moss (producer) found just the right musicians and developed arrangements that brought out the best in the songs. It has a simple, clear sound where every voice and instrument is heard, and the stories are allowed to be told. Most of the songs rely on our usual acoustic instruments (Grant Gordy and me on guitar, Adam on fiddle, Dave Speranza on stand up bass, Zack Bruce on mandolin, Jason Nazary on drums) and my vocal companions (Adam and Amanda Homi) singing harmonies. But we got a little wild on a couple, adding electric guitar (Will Graefe), organ (Marco Benevento), piano (Sam Reider) and pedal steel (Phil Sterk). And there are some haunting contributions by David Moss on cello and and Alec Spiegelman on recorder.  The diversity of the songs required all these great contributors, so we were able to pull off styles that include bluegrass, old timey, blues, country and a bit of rock 'n' roll. 

UPCOMING SHOWS: June 7 at 3:00pm, tune in to my favorite radio station, North Country Public Radio, to hear us play live on Ellen Rocco's show, The Blue Note. The station is in Canton, NY, where my sweetie and I have been living about half the time and where we both attended St. Lawrence University. NCPR's geographical range is huge, from Burlington VT to Watertown, from Ottawa to Albany, and they win awards every year from NPR for the excellence of their news coverage. 

June 19 at 6:00pm we will be headlining the weekly Norwood Village Green Concert Series, in Norwood NY (just north of Potsdam). This series attracts attendees from all over the North Country and we are very excited to be playing in front of hundreds of people.

June 25 at 8:30pm we will be back at the great Radio Bean in Burlington VT, followed by The Brother Brothers (my pals and co-conspirators Adam and David Moss) at 9:30.

July 30 in the afternoon we return to play two unplugged sets at the Huntington Folk Festival on Long Island. The headliner is the wonderful songwriter Slaid Cleaves. 

August 2 at 10pm is our official album release party at Rockwood Music Hall, Stage 2, in NYC. Most of the cast from the record will be on stage to celebrate.

For details on the shows and more, click here: 

 HELP A GREAT CAUSE: My friend Nick Hillary has been falsely accused of murder in Potsdam NY. His life has turned into a nightmare due to the actions of corrupt individuals in the DA's office and the police department, and he is facing life in prison should he be convicted. His trial starts Sept. 6, and he needs financial help (no donation is too small) to pay for the astronomical costs of his defense. I've been working with him since last fall to raise money and find a great defense team, but, in what has become a sad state of affairs in this country, there's no justice without paying cash up front. Please go to this site, read the details and make a contribution for justice. I wrote a song about his plight, Song for Nick, that is included on the new album.