Grateful 'Ghost': Jackie Greene

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ROOTS-ROCKER JACKIE GREENE wasn't alive when Phil Lesh first started making a name for himself with The Grateful Dead, but last year the 27-year-old from San Francisco received a phone call from the legendary bassist.

"He heard my song on the radio and he liked it a lot. He ended up coming to see us play a couple times, but I didn't really think anything of it," Greene said. "I didn't meet him at the shows, but he just called me one day and he was in the studio and said 'Can you help me write some songs?' The next thing you know, I'm in his band."

Since joining Phil Lesh and Friends, Greene also took the stage earlier this year with Lesh and fellow Grateful Dead members Bob Weir and Mickey Hart for a Dead reunion show in support of Barack Obama.

"It was insane. There were people outside that were trading their cars for tickets," he said. "There was a lot of history, a lot of baggage [between the Dead members] that I don't know about. It went off very well, but there was no rehearsal — we were just kinda going for it."

For Greene, the age difference hasn't been much of an issue. In fact, for his first few shows with the band, which can play for as long as four hours, Greene was winded long before 68-year-old Lesh.

"The first couple times I was kind of blown out after the first hour and a half," Greene said. "You learn to pace yourself. It's definitely more of a marathon, where my shows are more of a sprint."

Monday at Birchmere, Greene will perform with his own band — with material that's earned him opening spots alongside Elvis Costello, B.B. King and Willie Nelson, and had the New York Times dub him "The Prince of Americana" for his blend of country, blues, rock and soul.

But Greene said he gets more nervous playing at his own shows.

"The Phil thing, essentially I'm just a side man who sings," he said. "At my shows, the pressure it always focused on me.

His fifth and latest album as a solo artist, "Giving Up the Ghost" (429 Records), is varied, jumping from the Coldplay-esque "Shaken" to the old-timey roots-rock of "Ball and Chain."

"We recorded this in my own studio, which allowed for a little bit more tinkering," Greene said. "Since we weren't paying for studio time, we were sort of f**king up things on purpose to see how they sounded."

Sounds like the Lesh lessons have paid off.

» Birchmere, 3701 Mt. Vernon Ave., Alexandria; with Pete & J, Mon., 7:30 p.m., $20; 703-549-7500.

Written by Express contributor Jason Koebler

Photos by Jay Blakesberg