Best Western: Greg Schochet Steps Into the Spotlight
by Adam Perry for Boulder Weekly 4/7/2022
I first met Greg Schochet in 2017 when he toured with Gasoline Lollipops in Belgium and Holland, filling in with us on lead guitar when Donnie Ambory was unable to travel. He’s good-natured and bright, able to crack up a room full of people with an onstage joke or lighten the mood with a zinger when tension gets tough on the road. With his elegant cowboy hats, Western shirts, jeans and boots, Schochet doesn’t immediately cut the image of someone born and raised on Long Island.
Over tacos at Torchy’s in Boulder recently, Schochet laughed when told he doesn’t come off as a New Yorker at all.
“I can if I need to,” he jokes.
Schochet, winner of the 2021 Rockygrass flatpick-guitar contest, released his first solo album (a slick, well-crafted Colorado-country record called Amblin’ Man) last year after decades as a renowned sideman in various highly regarded Colorado bands. However, he doesn’t feel like the project represents a veritable coming-out-of-the-shadows moment.
“I’ve been playing around here a long time,” Schochet, who sings lead and plays multiple stringed instruments on the new album, says. “I’ve been a pretty big part of everything I’ve been involved in, and I’ve established some element of a musical personality. It wasn’t that big of a leap in a way, but the reception was so good that it felt good right away, and it’s a really good record, I think.” READ THE REST AT BOULDERWEEKLY.COM HERE.
Adam Perry 