Gregory Alan Isakov

Though Isakov was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, he moved to the United States at a very young age and spent the majority of his childhood growing up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He got an early start in the music industry and started touring with a band when he was only 16. Later in his career Isakov moved to Colorado and started producing solo material. He drew inspirations from a diverse range of artists including delta-blues revivalist/ jazz aficionado Kelly Joe Phelps, evocative poet and acclaimed folk artist Leonard Cohen, and heartland rock sensation Bruce Springsteen.

Isakov takes musical ideas from a variety of sources, both musically and experiential; however he never comes off sounding redundant or like a simulation of one of his musical idols. He has honed in on a sound uniquely his own. It is weathered, spacious and filled with transformative moods. His music can create an atmosphere in the same vein as pioneering delta blues musician’s like Son House and it can just as likely channel in the slowcore minimalism of artists like Mark Kozelek.

Isakov has released six full-length studio albums including That Sea the Gambler (2007), This Empty Northern Hemisphere (2009), The Weatherman (2013), Gregory Alan Isakov with the Colorado Symphony (2016), Evening Machines (2018), which was nominated for a Grammy award for Best Folk Album, and Appaloosa Bones (2023).

Gregory Alan Isakov tours internationally with his band. When not on the road, he runs a small farm in Boulder County, Colorado. The farm provides produce to its CSA members, local restaurants, as well as to a local food bank.

He has been responsible for a number of wide-ranging acoustic covers of recognisable contemporary hits including "Heartbeats" by Swedish electro-pop outfit The Knife, Joy Division’s "Love Will Tear Us Apart", Bruce Springsteen’s "Born in the U.S.A." and "The Ghost of Tom Joad", Kylie Minogue’s "Hand on Your Heart", Bronski Beat’s "Smalltown Boy" and Massive Attack’s "Teardrop".

He cut his teeth in a very different kind of scene, playing guitar and bass in hardcore punk bands Back Against The Wall and Renascence, thrashing out two-minute power-chord numbers in the vein of Black Flag, The Misfits and the Dead Kennedys.

He released his four track debut E.P. “Crosses” in June 2003, following it up with his first full-length, “Veneer” in October, which contained "Crosses", "Hints" and "Deadweight on Velveteen" off the E.P. “Veneer” also contained what became perhaps his best recognized song, “Heartbeats”, a soulful acoustic rendition of the single previously released by his fellow Swedes, The Knife, which peaked at Number 6 on the UK Singles Chart. While recording the album, González was studying for a PhD in Biochemistry at the University of Gothenburg, which he never completed due to the unforeseen success of his musical career.

González released his second album, “In Our Nature” internationally on 22 September 2007. The first single in Sweden was "Killing for Love", whereas in the rest of Europe it was "Down the Line". The album’s title pays service to ethicist Peter Singer and evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins, whom González had been reading at the time. The writings lend their ideas to the lyrical content of “In Our Nature”, which explores concepts surrounding around the human condition, God and morality.

González’s long awaited third studio album “Vestiges & Claws” is scheduled for release February 2015