Biography

Born and raised in New Jersey, Greg Trooper wrote songs recorded by the likes of Steve Earle and Vince Gill. In the early '70s, Trooper left the folk clubs of Greenwich Village for the music scene in Austin, Texas before moving to Lawrence, Kansas, where he entered college and continued to hone his guitar, singing, and songwriting skills. He returned to New York for the '80s and part of the '90s, where he recorded his first two records: We Won't Dance and the critically acclaimed Everywhere. The records caught the attention of Earle, who recorded Trooper's "Little Sister." In the early '90s, Trooper met fellow New Jerseyite and ex-E Steet Band bassist Garry Tallent who, like Trooper, would settle in Nashville. Tallent produced Trooper's 1996 album Noises in the Hallway and released it on his D'Ville Records. Popular Demons followed in 1998. After the release of that album, he signed with famed Nashville indie Element Records, which released Straight Down Rain in 2001. He moved on to the esteemed Sugar Hill label in 2003 with the excellent Floating, followed by Make It Through This World in 2005. After returning to New York in 2008 and settling in Brooklyn, Trooper released two albums on the 52 Shakes label, 2011's Upside-Town Town and 2013's Incident on Willow Street, plus a previously unreleased 1995 recording called The Williamsburg Affair. The concert album Live at the Rock Room followed in 2015. Trooper died of pancreatic cancer in early 2017. ~ Jack Leaver, Rovi