A native of Clinton, NJ now making his home in Winston-Salem, NC, Gregg is a two time ASCAPlus award winner for the folk genre. He’s been a finalist in the Kerrville Folk Festival’s prestigious New Folk competition and had the opportunity to open for folk/rock stars Pete Seeger, James Taylor, America & Poco. Gregg has also had the honor of playing on The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts‘ Millenium Stage.
His ease of phrasing and clear, warm baritone communicates joy, wit, love and whatever else comes to mind without pretense. His guitar playing is bold and bassy, negotiating enlightening open tunings and various worldly rhythms like it was a roll through the park. Like just a small handful of other instrument intensive singer/songwriters Gregg Cagno is a studied and experienced performer and entertainer. Comfortable and warm with an audience, he’s as creative an interpreter of other’s works as he is his own. Gregg frequently co-writes with longtime friend and novelist Christian Bauman.
Mostly appearing solo, Cagno is sometimes accompanied by Jim Heffernan (Joe Diffie, Brad Paisley) on Dobro, Karl Dietel on keys or percussionist Dave Anthony.
In addition to performing, Gregg taught songwriting and guitar workshops for the NJ State Teen Arts Festival and Young Composers festival for the past 10 years.
Gregg’s song “In Her Own Eyes” (co-written with Robert Meitus) was placed in the Smithsonian Folkways Recordings archives with the FAST FOLK catalogue. The title track of his 1st CD “Backroad Driver” was featured on NPR’s ‘Car Talk’. His tune “Just the 3 of Us” won ‘best mellow’ at the 2002 South Florida Folk Festival. Other songwriter awards include: 2000 Falcon Ridge Folk Festival – Emerging Artist | 2000 Rocky Mountain Folks Festival – Songwriter Showcase Honorable Mention | 2002 Susquehanna Music & Arts Festival – Songwriting Finalist | Great American Song Contest – Honorable Mention for “Any Kind of Love” written with Linda Sharar.
In 1995, Cagno teamed up with musicians Christian Bauman, Linda Sharar and the bands The Marys, Big Happy Crowd and The Amazing Incredibles to create the musical collective Camp Hoboken. The artists collaborated on songs and performances until 1999, and released two recordings. Sharar, Cagno, and Bauman often toured under the Camp Hoboken name, frequently with the late Rachel Bissex.
Cagno learned his craft, and honed his smooth baritone voice, as a teenager playing and volunteering at the legendary Godfrey Daniels stage in Bethlehem, PA. The influence of fellow Godfrey’s-alum John Gorka can be seen in Gregg’s sharp, descriptive, and witty lyrics. But Gregg Cagno isn’t an echo of any one performer, musician, or songwriter. He does, brilliantly, what only a few talented folks can pull off: translate the depths of his influences into a sound and style distinctly his own.
| Quotes: “He’s got the groove…” – Tom Prasada-Rao “He Rocks!” – Catie Curtis“. . . works alone, carrying the whole program in a rich voice with a vigorous display on the guitar; and a quiet, comfortable banter.” – The Record“Best Folk Artist 2003” – Makin Waves Awards, Courier News”Crafty musings…an intimate, easy-going style” – Princeton Packet “Brings innermost feelings to the fore with an ease not achieved by most…especially pleasing is ‘The Grind’” – Dirty Linen “Has a real good fist on the guitar”– The Folk Project “Cagno doesn’t growl or snarl or break instruments onstage, or rip off his shirt and pound you with how ‘significant’ his insights are. He gently, expertly removes the eye lash that’s been annoying you all day, scratches his beard and decides whether to order a cup of irony or a chef’s salad of poignancy” “Plays well with others” – Mrs. Johnson (Kindergarten Teacher 1975) |
| Has Supported/Opened For:
• James Taylor • John Gorka • America • Richie Havens • Chris Smither • Pete Seeger • James Keelaghan • Carrie Newcomer • Susan Werner • Poco • Dar Williams • Chuck Brodsky • Marshall Crenshaw • The Nields • Ellis Paul • Vance Gilbert • Todd Snider • Garnet Rogers • David Massengill • Alejandro Escovedo • Eric Andersen • The Bongos • The Dorkestra • Health & Happiness Show • The Burns Sisters • Maura O’Connell • Levon Helm • Andy Summers • Chris Barron |
| Has Performed:
• The PNC Bank Arts Center, Homdel NJ • The Birchmere, Alexandria VA • The Kerrville Folk Festival, Kerrville TX • South Florida Folk Festival, Ft. Lauderdale FL • Falcon Ridge Folk Festival, Hillsdale NY • Bottom Line, NYC • Maxwell’s, Hoboken NJ • Godfrey Daniels, Bethlehem PA • House of Blues, Cambridge MA • Fast Folk Cafe, NYC • Uncle Calvin’s Coffeehouse, Dallas TX • 12 Corners Coffeehouse, Rochester NY • Eddie’s Attic, Decatur GA • Bluebird Cafe, Nashville, TN • Club Passim, Cambridge MA • CBGB’s Gallery, NYC • Lycian Theatre, Sugarloaf NY • Cafe Lena, Saratoga Springs NY • Happy Endings, Syracuse NY • Burlington Coffeehouse, Burlington VT • Postcrypt Coffeehouse, NYC • The Wetlands, NYC • The Mercury Lounge, NYC • Outpost in the Burbs, Montclair, NJ • Towne Crier, Pawling, NY • Blue Heaven, Key West, FL • OK Hotel, Seattle, WA • Freight & Salvage, Berkeley, CA • Harbin Hot Springs, Middletown, CA • Highland Grounds, Hollywood, CA • Susquehanna Music and Arts Festival, Darlington, MD • The Cabin Concerts, Wayne, NJ • Heart’s Desire House Concerts, Ft. Lauderdale, FL |
| Discography:
• Backroad Driver (self release 1994) • Tales from Sixth & Clinton (Zesty Records 1997) • Present Moment Days (Black Potatoe Records 2000) • Simple Gifts (duo with Maggie Anderson Winnie Cat Records 2002) • Worth the Wait (Black Potatoe Records 2014) Compilations: Camp Hoboken: Denied Entry, 1997 Camp Hoboken, 1996 Live at Atomic Vol. 1, 1995 (Mandolin Moon) Exit #135 – NJ Songwriters’ Circle, 1993 (Neighborhood Angel) Fast Folk FF607 Vol.8 #7. Songs from the Garden State, 1992 |