2022 Deep Roots Summer Series – Jeff McCreary @ Airport Grocery

Jeff McCreary is a singer-songwriter from the Delta town of Cleveland, Mississippi. Born and raised in between Cleveland and the nearby town of Merigold, McCreary stuck around even after a stint in Europe because of family and the irresistible draw of the Delta. McCreary’s music is the wry, hard-earned expression of life and time in the mystic region famously described as “the most Southern place on earth.”

After discovering Bob Dylan at age 16, McCreary picked up the guitar and a pen. Inspired by Dylan’s music, as well as Texas songwriter Townes Van Zandt, he began to write his own songs based on a style that could be folk, rock, red dirt country, anthemic, Shakespearean, sardonic, heartwarming, dark, humorous, or any/all of the above. Simply put, McCreary explores all facets of the broad genre of Americana in his writing and playing. He writes with a specificity that makes his music all the more relatable, offering an honest look at life and his surroundings. Songwriting is his passion to him, it feels like it’s what he’s on earth to do. “They show up sometimes out of the blue,” he says of his songs. “It’s like a gift.”