Gregg Cagno is an American songwriter and touring performer in the singer-songwriter and

folk Folk or Folks may refer to: Sociology *Nation *People * Folklore ** Folk art ** Folk dance ** Folk hero ** Folk music *** Folk metal *** Folk punk *** Folk rock ** Folk religion * Folk taxonomy Arts, entertainment, and media * Folk Plus or Fo ...

genres.

Career

Born in 1969, Cagno grew up in

Clinton, New Jersey Clinton is a town in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. It is located on the South Branch of the Raritan River in the Raritan Valley region. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the town's population was 2,719,Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

, Pennsylvania. He is a 2006 ASCAP award winner in the folk category, and was a finalist in the

Kerrville Folk Festival The Kerrville Folk Festival is a music festival held for 18 consecutive days in the late spring/early summer at Quiet Valley Ranch near Kerrville, Texas. The Kerrville Folk Festival was founded in 1972 by the husband-wife team of Rod Kennedy ...

's prestigious New Folk competition. Cagno has performed throughout North America in venues including The

John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (formally known as the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts, and commonly referred to as the Kennedy Center) is the United States National Cultural Center, located on the Potom ...

' Millennium Stage, Godfrey Daniels, Club Passim,

Eddie's Attic Eddie's Attic is a music club in Decatur, Georgia. Founded in 1992 in music, 1992 by Eddie Owen (entrepreneur), Eddie Owen, it is a venue for both local musical talent and musicians of some acclaim who often got their start in the Atlanta area. ...

, and

Falcon Ridge Folk Festival The Falcon Ridge Folk Festival is an American annual folk-oriented music festival and dance festival held at Dodds Farm in Hillsdale, New York. History The first festival was a two-day event in 1988, held at a ski slope. In 1991, the festival mo ...

. He currently records for Black Potatoe Records. Mostly appearing solo, Cagno is sometimes accompanied by Karl Dietel on keys, violinist Carol Sharar, or Jimmy Heffernan on Dobro. In addition to performing, Cagno has taught songwriting and guitar workshops for the NJ State Teen Arts Festival and Young Composers festival. Cagno's song "In Her Own Eyes" (co-written with Robert Meitus) is in the

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings Smithsonian Folkways is the nonprofit record label of the Smithsonian Institution. It is a part of the Smithsonian's Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage, located at Capital Gallery in downtown Washington, D.C. The label was fou ...

archives with the fast folk catalog. The title track of his first CD "Backroad Driver" was featured on

NPR National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

's ''

Car Talk ''Car Talk'' is a radio talk show that was broadcast weekly on National Public Radio (NPR) stations and elsewhere. Its subjects were automobiles and automotive repair, often discussed humorously. It was hosted by brothers Tom and Ray Maglioz ...

''. His tune "Just the three of us" was an award winner at the 2002 South Florida Folk Festival. Cagno learned his craft, and perfected his smooth baritone voice, as a teenager playing and volunteering at the Godfrey Daniels stage in

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19, ...

. He began playing out regularly while a student at

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

, and became a core of New Jersey's flourishing acoustic scene in the early 1990s (loosely centered on musician Spook Handy's weekly open mikes at

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

's Corner Tavern). It was during this time that he met and began occasionally performing with

Linda Sharar Linda may refer to: As a name * Linda (given name), a female given name (including a list of people and fictional characters so named) * Linda (singer) (born 1977), stage name of Svetlana Geiman, a Russian singer * Anita Linda (born Alice Lake ...

. After college, Cagno moved to

Hoboken, New Jersey Hoboken ( ; Unami: ') is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 60,417. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 58,690 i ...

and quickly established himself as a leading figure in what was then one of the most important alt music scenes in America. In 1995, Cagno teamed up with Sharar and

Christian Bauman Christian Bauman (born June 15, 1970) is an American novelist, essayist, and lyricist. Early life and education Bauman was born in Easton, Pennsylvania on June 15, 1970. He began grade school while living in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, and m ...

(Cagno and Bauman attended

North Hunterdon High School North Hunterdon High School is a four-year regional public high school serving students from six municipalities in northern Hunterdon County, New Jersey, United States, as one of two high schools in the North Hunterdon-Voorhees Regional High Sch ...

together"Persistence pays off for Hunterdon singer-songwriter"
''

The Courier-News The ''Courier News'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Somerville, New Jersey, that serves Somerset County and other areas of Central Jersey. The paper has been owned by Gannett since 1927. Notable employees *John Curley, former presid ...

'', September 1, 2002. Accessed December 4, 2017. "When Gregg Cagno was at North Hunterdon Regional High School, he played songs by Neil Young and The Band in a rock act.") and the bands The Marys, Big Happy Crowd and The Amazing Incredibles to create the musical collective Camp Hoboken. The name Camp Hoboken came from Cagno's regular camping spot at the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival. The artists collaborated on songs and performances until 1999, and released two recordings. Sharar, Cagno, and Bauman often toured under the Camp Hoboken name, frequently with the late Rachel Bissex. In interviews with

National Public Radio National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...

and on

Vin Scelsa Vincent Anthony Scelsa (born December 12, 1947, in Bayonne, New Jersey) is an American broadcaster who was at "the forefront of the FM radio revolution" as the host of several Freeform (radio format), freeform radio show, radio programs, the best ...

's ''Idiot's Delight'', Bauman said that the Camp Hoboken era was the basis for his third novel "In Hoboken" (2008) and that the character of James was loosely based on Gregg Cagno.

Discography

* ''Backroad Driver'' (1994) * ''Tales From Sixth & Clinton'' (1997) * ''Present Moment Days'' (2000) * ''Simple Gifts'' (2002) * ''Worth The Wait'' (2014)

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cagno, Gregg Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American male singer-songwriters American folk singers American folk guitarists North Hunterdon High School alumni People from Clinton, New Jersey Singer-songwriters from New Jersey American folk musicians Fast Folk artists