Jack Grace

"Those seeking country music in NYC aren't necessarily looking for escapist thrills. Urban cowboy and native New Yorker Jack Grace is just the big-hatted man to provide western-tinged sounds with a gritty edge. When he sings about going down to the river, he means the one along the city's east side, not the Rio Grande." - Mike Wolf (Time Out New York)

Jack Grace is the Martini Cowboy, a New York City bred singer, songwriter, guitarist, banjo-picker and whiskey drinker, serving up his freshest brew yet of heartbreaking ballads, robust drinking songs and honky-tonk hymns. The Martini Cowboy, Jack's latest recording, is so authentically urban country "you can practically taste the whiskey dripping off the songs." (Village Voice)

People often ask, "How can you be country in Brooklyn?" Jack says, "New York City has its share of heartache, bar stools, trains and hobos. What else do you want?"

Live performances consistently earn high praise from local authorities. "He's New York's own answer to Honky Tonk and twang rock confabulation - and he does it all straight-up and well…audiences go for it." (Barry Mazor) And how about this: "The man himself slings more than a few sparks from his big, hollow-body Gibson." (New York Press)

Jack has opened for Merle Haggard, Doc Watson, Junior Brown, Dan Hicks, and even the Oak Ridge Boys, to name drop a few. One of his greatest honors was opening for Merle at the Mountain Winery in sunny California. In an intimate moment backstage, Haggard signed Jack's 1947 Gibson acoustic and lifted it into the air, saying, "I think I feel a few more songs in this one."

Those songs are delivered in so fresh and spontaneous a manner as to belie the careful song-craft involved in recording after recording. His debut, Introducing the Sounds of Jack Grace, was a solo effort well received in the New York area. The success of the album led to a three year Friday night residency at the Knitting Factory, where he experimented with different formats, from guitar and drum duos to the Jack Grace Mini Big Band. In 2002, he gathered his players in the studio for his second recording, "Stayin' Out All Night," a collection of hard-rocking songs and Jack's signature odes to optimism mixed with regret.

The quirky, 20th Century Fox cop comedy "Super Troopers" afforded Jack his first opportunity to score a major motion picture. Of course, he had to throw in some of his songs as well. Soon after, he was pleased to discover the wonderful world of royalty checks. "Getting checks in the mail for doing nothing is all right by me. In fact, I'll be happy to not mow your lawn for only $50." Hot on the heels of his "Super Troopers" triumph, Jack released "I Like It Wrong," which ranked in the top 100 of the AMA charts in 2004.

Jack Grace's torrid affair with music began at an early age when he'd doze in the back seat listening to Sinatra on his father's car stereo. A childhood fascination with the Beatles led to Neil Young, Led Zeppelin, Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings and beyond.

Jack's musical eclecticism is shared by his band-mates. Bassist, vocalist and wife Daria has formidable NYC credentials, with stints in both God is My Co-pilot and the Moonlighters. Lap-steel wizard Drew Glackin has lent his talents to numerous recordings by the Silos, Tandy, the Crash Test Dummies and Graham Parker to name but a few. Pianist Jon Dryden has played with Jesse Harris and Norah Jones. Toronto-born Russ Meissner rounds out the group, his jazz sensibilities ably blending with his comrades.

In a side venture, both Jack and Jon Dryden have been sharing the spotlight in Van Hayride, a cross- pollination of classic David Lee Roth-era Van Halen tunes with an old-time country and western twang that has tongues wagging across the five boroughs, conquering new territories for Martini Country.

The Jack Grace Band uses anything from Honky Tonk to Bossa Nova to get its point across. And yet, the New York Times probably sums it up best: "Make no mistake: Jack Grace is an old-fashioned country musician."