Brown was born into a musical family, and his father was a Pentecostal minister. Brown spent several years traveling with a band before returning to Iowa, where he performed live and pursued his songwriting career.
Career
During the 1980s Brown toured and had recurring performances on A Prairie Home Companion. Brown self-published two albums, 44 & 66 and The Iowa Waltz. A friend founded a record company called Red House Records and Brown became its first recording artist. Brown has recorded two dozen albums. In 1986 he released an album called Songs of Innocence and of Experience based on poems by William Blake. His album One Big Town won an Indie Award from the National Association of Independent Record Distributors. The Poet Game, his 1994 CD, won a NAIRD Indie award, and Further In was praised by Rolling Stone magazine. The Poet Game saw significant international radio play and earned not only critical raves, but also the Indie award for singer-songwriter Album of the Year. The Live One proved to be a fan favorite capturing the humor, warmth, insights and spirit of his live shows. His 1996 release, Further In, topped them all: critics called it a masterpiece and it received a four-star review in Rolling Stone. Greg’s 1997 release — Slant 6 Mind — received more of the same and earned Greg his second Grammy nomination. 1999 brought the re-release of One Night, a live concert recording originally released on the Coffeehouse Extempore label. His album Solid Heart CD was recorded in 1999 during a benefit concert. Two releases followed in 2000: Over and Under and the critically acclaimed Covenant, which won the Association for Independent Music’s award for Best Contemporary Folk Album of 2000. His 2002 album, Going Driftless: An Artist’s Tribute to Greg Brown featured guest vocal performances by Ani DiFranco, Gillian Welch, and Shawn Colvin. A recording of another benefit concert was recorded and released in 2007 under the name Yellow Dog on the EarthWorks Music label. In 2007, Brown was nominated for a Folk Alliance Award. In 2010, Brown played Hades on Hadestown, a concept album by Anaïs Mitchell.
Personal life
Greg Brown has been married three times. He has one daughter from his first marriage: Pieta Brown; and two from his second marriage: Constance Brown and Zoe Brown—all three are musicians. He has one son. Brown married singer-songwriter Iris DeMent in November 2002. In 2005, he and his wife adopted a daughter from Russia, Daria Chesnokva Victorona.
