By Lookout Staff

July 26, 2012 -- Whether you call it folk rock, acoustic hip-rock or organic jam rock, guys with guitars -- some of them acoustic -- will take the Pier stage for the fourth free Twilight Dance Series Concert Thursday.

Jackie Greene, who has steadily gained a reputation among roots music enthusiasts since his first album came out six years ago, has toured with Buddy Guy, Elvis Costello, Willie Nelson, B.B. King and Ramblin' Jack Elliott, among others.
Often compared to a young Bob Dylan – his songs feature guitar as well as harmonica – Greene started by sitting in with local bar bands and cutting his first cd in a makeshift garage studio.
In 2002 he released Gone Wanderin' on the DIG label, which won the California Music Award for the Best Blues/Roots Album in 2003 and remained on the national Americana charts for more than a year.

By 2005, he had joined Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh and Friends, covering the bands extensive repertoire, as well as incorporating some of Greene’s own songs. That year, his song "I Will Never Let Go," released on the Verve label, was used as part of the score for Brokeback Mountain, which won the 2005 Oscar for Best Original Score.

His songs have been featured on the television series “Life” and “Private Practice” and Greene has performed twice on Late Night With Conan O'Brien.

Greene’s band – which features Nathan Dale on guitar, Jeremy Plog on bass, Steve Taylor on keyboard, and Zack Bowden on drums – routinely plays to sold-out audiences in Northern California.

If Greene has arrive, the opening act Me and Heath is hoping to follow suit, getting the chance to share the stage after winning Rusty's Surf Ranch's Emerging Artist Competition. The band, which has played mostly local venues, bills its music as Acoustic Hip-Rock on cdbaby.com.

The Thursday night concerts are emceed by DJs from 89.9 FM KCRW, the media partner for the Twilight Concert Series.

Concertgoers are encouraged to take the Big Blue Bus. Parking will be available in the lot north of the pier at 1550 Pacific Coast Highway, however parking on the Santa Monica Pier deck will be closed.

The City of Santa Monica will provide a free bike valet, stationed on the beach next to the bicycle path on the south side of the pier.

More information about the Twilight Concert Series can be found at twilightseries.org.