By Kiarah Guzman
Every day Greg Sover wakes up loving what he does.
Born in Brooklyn to Haitian parents, as a young child, he stared in awe at his father’s acoustic guitar. “It was one of the sexiest things I had ever seen and I’ve been hooked ever since,” he recalls.
Early in life, he was introduced to the Haitian native genre, Kompa, a mix of electric guitar, horns, drumming, and vocals. Sover got his first guitar when he was five, and his love for music blossomed.
Bob Marley was the first English-speaking musician that Sover listened to. Among Marley and other musical inspirations, Sover discovered his musical style when he heard Jimi Hendrix’s “Purple Haze.” He recalls, “I had to learn that song, and learning it made me realize what I wanted to sound like.” Soon after, a friend of Sover’s recommended he listen to Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Sover’s blues-rock journey began.
In 2016, he released his first album, “Songs of a Renegade.” During the production of his first three albums, Sover was writing with the intention to overcome a problem. He says during the writing of his fourth and newest album, “His-Story,” he instead embraced his problem for what it was and worked through it, rather than overcoming it. His songwriting has grown and improved because of this.
Sover explains, “As you develop, you find your own voice. I wanna keep being a better guitar player, if it wasn’t for the guitar, I wouldn’t be making music.” Songwriting is 24/7 for Sover; if he isn’t working in his home studio, he’s at another. He gushes, “It’s music full time, all the time.”
Sover performs in the Philadelphia region. This past January, he was an emerging artist at A Night of Song, Doylestown Tileworks. Years of songwriting and performing don’t come without struggle, and Sover says his childhood is what keeps him going, “I have never forgotten my youth, I will never stop.”
Sover realized he was on the right track, and his hard work was paying off when he had the opportunity to work with American bassist Billy Cox. Cox is most known for performing with Jimi Hendrix. At this moment, Sover knew he had made it.
When asked what advice he would give to his younger self, Sover pauses for a moment, then laughs. “That’s a funny question because I still feel like my younger self. I would give myself a high-five and say, ‘I’m glad you never stopped.’”
Sover believes music is the universal language. He clarifies, “I often go to venues where I’m not the typical blues rock musician, but I’m always accepted because of the music. If you’re really listening, music doesn’t have any boundaries.”
With all that goes on in the world, it can be difficult to see things in their true light. Sover wants to point the mirror back at society, he says, “Let’s take a look at what we’re doing, whether it’s good or bad. We as artists, we’re that mirror to show you this is what’s really going on.” To follow Sover, visit his website: gregsover.com