Greg was born in the Hunter Valley region
of New South Wales in 1960, but as a child he moved around quite a bit
living in places such as Wingham, Trunkey Creek and Gunnedah. He
now lives back in the Hunter Valley on a small property at North
Rothbury.
It was while he was living at Gunnedah that Greg met his good friend Col
Rollings (a local entertainer) who convinced him to buy a guitar and he
would teach him a few chords. It wasn't long before Greg was playing the
Bush Ballads that he had grown up listening to, but his performances
where restricted to around the house and at family BBQ's.
Greg moved back to the Hunter Valley in 1995 still continuing to play
his guitar and sing at family functions. In 2006 he saw an ad in the
local paper that read Bellbird Country Music Club every Wednesday night.
That Wednesday Greg went to the venue for a look and he met the
organizer, Slim Newton. Slim asked Greg if he played guitar and sang,
Greg said that he did but was only there to have a listen. Slim not
satisfied with this answer approached Greg later on in the night
announcing that he had borrowed a guitar for him and that he was the
next artist to perform. After some coaxing from Slim Greg nervously
agreed to have a go, he performed three Slim Dusty songs and later on in
the night performed an other three that he had written himself. Slim
enjoyed what he herd that night and he introduced Greg to a couple of
other Country Music Clubs in the area, it wasn't long before Greg was a
regular at all of these Clubs.
Later on that year Slim invited Greg to join the band at the Bellbird
Country Music Club as the regular rhythm guitarist. Slim also suggested
to Greg that he should enter the Australian Bush Balladeers Association
Star Quest that is held each year at the Tamworth Country Music
Festival. Greg was reluctant at first but after continued coaxing from
various club members he agreed to enter.
At the 2007 Tamworth Country Music Festival, much to his surprise,
Greg won the Australian Bush Balladeers Star Quest. As part of his
prize package Greg received the honor of being the ambassador for The
Australian Bush Balladeers Association for the following twelve months,
appearing at most major east coast Festivals. Twelve months
and almost 20 thousand kilometers later, Greg became well established in
the Bush Ballad scene with a very loyal fan base.
Also as part of his prize packages Greg received recording time at
Lindsay Butler Studios to record a radio single, The single that Greg
recorded was an Ian Quinn song called Can I Sing Trumby, which proved
very successful winning the New Talent category in both The NSW Gold
Medallion Awards and also the Australian Bush Ballad Awards.
After Lindsay Butler had produced Greg's Single he asked him if he would
be interested in joining the LBS label as Lindsay believed Greg's music
was a quite unique and his likable personality would appeal to
traditional country music fans. Greg was extremely happy to receive this
offer and he and Lindsay commenced work on the album.
During the next eleven months, when both Greg and Lindsay's busy
schedules allowed some studio time, they worked on the production of
Greg's debut album "Country Skies" which was released on the 17th August
2008.
Greg said that he is extremely happy with the album and hopes it is the
first of many more. It is believed within industry circles that
Greg Bain will be an artist to enjoy a long and successful career.
