ELECTRONIC PRESS KIT
BIO
Greg Schochet is a full-time performer, teacher and producer in Boulder, Colorado. Equally adept on guitar and mandolin, he is fluent in all manner of acoustic and electric styles, specializing in bluegrass, swing and country. He was the lead guitarist for Halden Wofford & the Hi*Beams for 16 years, Colorado’s beloved and venerable honky-tonk and western swing band. He now fronts Greg Schochet & Little America, a 5-piece western swing band. Greg is an integral part of Colorado’s thriving roots music scene, and is a sought after instructor, session player, producer and collaborator.
He has performed at such wonderful venues as Prairie Home Companion, Red Rocks, Strawberry Music Festival, Sisters Folk Festival, Rockygrass, New Orleans Jazz Fest, as well as countless performing arts centers, clubs, bars, rodeos and flatbed trucks.
Greg is winner of the 2021 Rockygrass Flatpick guitar contest.
A veteran of many teaching camps, Greg has also been guitar and mandolin teacher at Woodsongs Music, Colorado’s premier acoustic music store, for some 20 years. His teaching practice centers around preparing students to thrive in ensemble settings, whether it be a campground jam or a working band.
He has taught at some of some of the premier camps in the west: Puget Sound Guitar Workshop, Targhee Music Camp, Walker Creek Music Camp, California Coast Music Camp, Montana Fiddle Camp and Colorado Roots Music Camp.
Little America Bio
Greg Schochet & Little America may be a newly formed band, but one that has been a long time coming. Greg is twenty plus years into a Colorado performing career, and his first foray into fronting a band is heavy on musical vision and loaded with accomplished players.
Already renowned as a first call country and bluegrass picker, Greg has assembled a crew to funnel that experience into a Western Swing powerhouse that harkens back to Colorado’s halcyon 70s era. With pedal steel and alto sax bringing the country and swing bona fides, upright bass and drums keep it dancing. Sure there are Bob Wills, Emmylou Harris and Red Knuckles nods, but also original songs and deep cuts from unexpected sources.
The band has been warmly received in its first few seasons of touring, with appearances at the Pagosa Folk ’n Bluegrass Festival, Dairy Center for the Arts and the Boulder Theater.
VIDEOS
Live at Pagosa Folk ‘n Bluegrass Festival 6/22
TUNES
PRESS
QUOTES
“Greg Schochet is and always was on the “good side” of country music, in fact, he’s one of the greats.”
Gregory Alan Isakov
“Greg Schochet’s new record Amblin’ Man shows why he’s considered one of Colorado’s top guitarists. Big tone, spot on playing and a great choice of material combine to make this album a pleasure to listen to.”
Vince Herman, Leftover Salmon
“Greg Schochet is a master of his instruments and over the last two decades his unmistakable sound has become a Colorado institution. What a relief to have it finally preserved on an album as impeccably beautiful as Amblin’ Man!”
Clay Rose, Gasoline Lollipops
“Wherever there is a mandolin, a country guitar and people hearing music from Colorado, you are hearing the influence of Greg Schochet. A gentleman, a teacher and the finest picker I’ve ever known. ”
Danny Shafer
“For years we’ve known that Greg Schochet, beloved sideman of note for many Colorado bands, is no flash in the pan. But this new solo cd makes it plain to see that not only is he a master of of any genre he prefers but he’s a musical arranger par excellence.
Greg tackles classic honky tonk numbers, Jimmie Rodgers classics, his own song “Stationmaster”, and more and brings new life to them with fresh arrangements that are so different and so well done that you might forget who did the song in the first place.
He’s joined by a who’s who of Colorado’s finest musicians. If, as they say, you are who you walk with, we can say that Greg Schochet is walking the highest road.”
Mollie O’Brien and Rich Moore
