MUSIC

Join Block 7 Wine Co. on Sunday evenings for dinner paired with local live music performances that are stripped down, up close and personal.

This week Elaine Greer!

Elaine Greer’s interest in music stemmed from a variety of influences, ranging from her love for Broadway musicals as a child to her numerous attempts at punk rock bands as a teenager. Although she began writing songs at a young age, she was secretive about it for years before starting her first active band in 2005, The Bluebirds. The Bluebirds didn’t last long though, and thus Elaine Greer the solo artist was born. Years (and several line up changes) later, Elaine now frequently plays with a backing band of awesome musicians, and sometimes alone. At the end of 2008, Elaine realized that lo-fi home recordings could only take her so far, and headed to Master Bedroom Studios to record her first legitimate EP. This EP, complete with horns, a string section and group vocal parts, included a variety of guest musicians, and was mixed by Steve Christensen/Mastered by Allen Corneau.

“The…six-song EP, Making Plans and Going Places, was worth the wait. It’s a distractingly pretty collection of folk-pop featuring Greer’s uncomplicated coo and, yes, strings, horns and a choir part. Even the album art — a pastoral scene with a deep blue sky, a rainbow, fluffy clouds and gentle woodland creatures — is so pretty that it makes one sigh. It’s a small slice of perfection.”
Sara Cress, 29-95.com

“Elaine Greer…one of Houston’s best singer songwriters - packing a sharp gift for melody in one holster and strong and distinctive voice in the other. If anyone’s work in Houston has been long overdue a proper CD release, it’s Elaine Greer’s! Thankfully on Thursday at Mango’s Elaine is finally letting the hen out and releasing her first proper CD - a six-song EP “Making Plans and Going Places.” The songs should be quite familiar to fans who’ve kept up with her live performances and many will be excited and surprised at how Elaine approached the songs in the studio.”
Ramon Medina, freepresshouston.com

“Greer’s vocals are now slowed down, relaxed and unmistakably more confident. Nowhere is her leap into maturity more evident than on the rich, Gillian-Welch-like transformation of favorites like “The Key” and “Wild Things,” which make perfect companions for new numbers like the waltzy “Under the Radar” and two-steppin’ “Ancient History.”
Dusti Rhodes, Houston Press

“Standing aside and behind her, a three piece band, whose amplified sound was almost big enough to keep up with her now seriously catalyic-coverterless voice; you simply cannot believe that a sound that big and full can come from a body that small (and there is really no way to write that phrase without it sounding creepy. Apologies). Though the twee-folk is gone, don’t think that she’s fallen off the cliff into some sort of too-tuff n’ snarly Runaways style rebellion - she sings with a smile and made a noticeably ‘oh no’ face as she realized she was about to say a lyric with a bad word in front of her grandmother (who was in the audience). The band’s slightly twangy pop fits well in the collection of anyone who counts Rilo Kiley or The Lemonheads as must-hears, and certainly has a place in ours.”
The Skyline.net

“Elaine Greer and her band kicked off the night at the sweltering Engine Room… The rest of the band appeared and Greer strummed her way through a set of charming indie-folk-rock with an occasional twang. It didn’t take long for me to become a fan.”
Chron.com

“The first act for evening was Elaine Greer, a local singer who writes and sings wonderful folk/pop songs. I had seen her before, when she played the last show to ever take place at the Prolo earlier this year, and she has gotten even better since then. Her songs are pretty simple, but have diverse instrumentation, thanks to Austin Lloyd juggling guitar, accordion, and lap steel. The drummer is quite a sight to see, sometimes standing while playing, sometimes jumping up and down, and sometimes eating a pear while tapping a tambourine.”
HoustonMusicReview.com