Singled Out: Jon Geiger's It's Not My Cross To Bear

Jon Geiger recently release his "Live At Harvelle's" album and to celebrate we asked him to tell us about one of the tracks. He selected "Not My Cross To Bear". Here is the story:

One of my earliest and most powerful memories of sitting and being entirely overcome by the power of blues-based soulful rock music was the Allman Brothers first album, and sitting in my parents living room, putting that record on the turntable, and the first cut that came on was instrumental...it paused at the end and there was this gathering of a storm, it felt like, and that it was actually going on behind the grooves of the record! - and then ...Gregg's voice came in and oh my God!

It filled my soul... From that moment on, this song became my standard for what I felt in my soul to reach for vocally - and emotionally, passionately and musically, and of course all the guitar that followed in the song as well... So here I am, years later and wondering; "can I approach that? Can I take that on live? And can I arrange it for my trio and still make it work- in spite of having no B3 organ, and in spite of not having a nine or 10 piece band... Can I find another way into that and still put that across and at the same time pay homage to the beautiful spirit of Gregg Allman, who has passed but who still stays with us, and with me, in my heart?"... Well, I came up with a version that felt authentic and real to me, and rearranged and readapted for a trio, and instead of feeling less than because there were so many fewer instruments, and there was not the pad of that beautiful B3 organ, I tried to turn that around. Instead; to play INTO the space, play INTO The vulnerability that could be there in the absence of those things, and to try to take that on with openness and passion, and to still make the most of it vocally and from the heart... So it's a very important moment for me every night that I take that song on, and I'm proud include it here on the album.

Hearing is believing. Now that you know the story behind the song, listen and watch for yourself below and learn more about Jon here

Singled Out: Jon Geiger's I Dream

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