Review Text
While Greg Loiacono may be best known as a gritty rock and soul man from his work with The Mother Hips and Chris Robinson, the singer who emerges on Giving It All Away, his charismatic new solo album, is a far more sensitive storyteller, one whose tender delivery and heartfelt lyrics lay it all on the line in the plainspoken poetry of Bill Withers or The Everly Brothers. Inspired by the timeless canon of '60s and '70s heartbreak tunes, the collection dives headfirst into the dichotomies of love, exploring happiness, heartache, redemption, and regret, all with great insight and empathy. Loiacono worked with an all-star crew on the album-including producer Scott Hirsch (Hiss Golden Messenger, William Tyler), drummer Michael Urbano (Sheryl Crow, John Hiatt), organist Danny Eisenberg (Counting Crows, Jonathan Richman), singer Vicki Randle (Aretha Franklin, Mavis Staples), and Widespread Panic's Dave Schools on bass-and pushed himself beyond his comfort zone, embracing his falsetto singing voice and writing with deep vulnerability. The result is a warm and inviting meditation on love and loss, a gently aching work of hope and resilience that insists on finding the beauty in loss. "When your heart breaks, it also opens up," says Loiacono. "It's easy to be afraid of getting hurt, but sometimes you need that pain to make room for growth and joy. Sometimes you need to let go in order to figure out what's worth holding onto." Sometimes you've got to give it all away.
