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Welcome to Spanish Steps, a collection of songs navigating dreams, marriage and parenthood in New York City.
I’ve been writing and home-recording over the past few years with an evolving setup that I've dubbed my "mad scientist looping rig” – guitars, mics, drum machine, synths, pedalboards, mixer, looper, laptop. You could call this music my version of electro-soul.
The process is similar to what people today call "bedroom pop." That moniker is really a 21st-century description of a songwriting and recording method that I’ve been using since I got my first four-track tape machine.
I created these songs like I've created so many songs throughout my life: alone with my thoughts and my guitars. Songwriting has long been my lifeline for expressing emotions I can’t always access in everyday life. An emotional release valve, a creative escape hatch. Home-recording has been another dimension of that expression for me. Experimental. Imperfect. Personal.
In my life as a professional musician and songwriter, I’ve usually been a band guy. Sometimes a song doesn’t fit the band or falls by the wayside. Over time, I end up with songs that hang around in my head. I’ve found that once in a while, I just need to put them out there to clear my mental deck for the new.
Also, part of me has long aspired to be a soul auteur à la Shuggie Otis. This release satisfies that desire. Although this group of songs predates the arrival of COVID, the pandemic has been an opportunity to see this album through in auteur fashion.
My wife is a traveler. I joined in not long after we met. Rome was our last trip together before our first child was born; the Spanish Steps were a place where we celebrated our engagement. Two kids later, we’re still on a journey together – even when we’re sheltering in place.
Greg Humphreys | Spanish Steps
1. Everybody's Dancin'
2. You Don't Understand
3. Heart & Mind
4. Agua
5. Wanna Cry (But I Can’t)
6. Place de la République
7. Comin' To Get You
8. Lucky Guy
9. Are You Ready To Go
10. I'm Not Goin' Anywhere
11. At Least I Have You
Produced, engineered, and mixed by Greg Humphreys.
Mastered by Eber Pinheiro.
All songs © Greg Humphreys / Phrex Music BMI
Album art image and design by Greg Humphreys.
Skull sculpture created by Franco Cuttica.
© 2021 Greg Humphreys / Phrex Records
Press for Greg Humphreys:
All of Humphreys’ musical projects have shared some common elements: His distinctive soulful rasp, channeling Sam Cooke; his tight, imaginative guitar work; and his gift for writing melodic, catchy, deceptively simple tunes. — Eddie Huffman, Winston-Salem Journal
…The material comes across with an easy sway, effortless and alluring… One gets the sense that Humphreys is building his reputation cautiously but deliberately… his good fortune is all but inevitable. — Lee Zimmerman, No Depression