Kenny Greco Salutes His Rock Heroes on New EP

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio – Kenny Greco tips his hat to his earliest rock ’n’ roll heroes on his aptly named new EP, “Déjàvu.”

The Youngstown artist channels the style of some ’80s and ’90s rockers on the six songs, which feature soaring guitar solos, electronic accents and a spirit of fun and simpler days.

The project started last year when Greco played a song he had just written, “Forgiveness,” for a friend. Though Greco played it on an acoustic guitar, he was told it sounds like a Def Leppard song.

“So I said, ‘Why not do songs in the style of all of my heroes?” he said.

The other five songs continue the joy ride through the era of big-rock radio.

On “My City Is a Graveyard,” Greco starts with a riff that calls to mind Heart’s “Barracuda,” then steers into the realms of Van Halen, Motley Crue and Ratt.

“Energy” and “Hell of a Ride” could have been outtakes from John [Cougar] Mellencamp’s “American Fool” album.

“25 Summers” has the world-weary wisdom of a Bob Seger ballad.

“Good as Gone” is a simple rocker in the vein of the Rolling Stones or Aerosmith.

The new EP is the third release since 2021 for the prolific Greco, who is usually at home in the blue-collar rocker category.

The new songs, he said, are “a celebration” of the time period he grew up in.

He admits that as a teenager in 1988, “I was trying to put a hard rock band together to play JB’s,” a reference to the former rock club on Youngstown’s south side.

“I told my nieces and nephews that I wish they could have grown up in those days,” Greco said. “If Def Leppard is so bad, why are they playing in stadiums this summer?”

The new EP is available through all online music retailers.

While Greco rarely performs in public, he’s trying to find an opportunity that suits him.

In the meantime, audiences in Switzerland will be able to check him out. He will appear in a TV newsmagazine segment in that country about the political landscape in America’s heartland.

The crew interviewed him two weeks ago, and the segment will run in July.

The Swiss crew learned of Greco after seeing him on a German news program in 2016. That German crew had visited Youngstown to report on how the once solidly Democratic Mahoning Valley had transformed into a Republican area.

Greco is shown performing Bruce Springsteen’s “Youngstown” in the segment, which was largely shot in his business, South Side Recycling.

To view the segment, click HERE.

Pictured at top: Youngstown artist Kenny Greco.

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