Last spring, local singer-songwriter Crow Greenspun unveiled his long-awaited debut CD, "Never Be Its Own," on the I-Town Records label. Like so many local CDs released in recent years, "Never Be Its Own" captures the vibe of the Ithaca area, in the music itself, which mixes folk, country, soul, rock and hip-hop.

For the sessions at REP Studios, Greenspun enlisted a horde of Ithaca's best players, including Redmond, Nate Richardson, Tim Reppert, Brian Wilson, Hank Roberts, and the Destination's Karen Lonsky, Mabel Evans Welch and Stephanie McClain.

"I had a pretty clear idea for most of the songs about how they needed to be recorded, production wise," Greenspun says. "But some of them were difficult to get down - 'Marbles From Milestones' in particular. I tried that about 15 different ways."

Greenspun cites songwriting influences such as Bob Dylan, John Prine, Cat Stevens, Van Morrison. And several of his songs recall the Donna the Buffalo songs of Jeb Puryear. "I swear it's not intentional," Greenspun says, though he's quick to credit Puryear as an another influence. He lists family, death ("because that's what's happened for me most impressively in my life") and storytelling as recurring themes in his lyrics.

Rap and hip-hop also had a formative effect on Greenspun's songwriting; in fact, he raps on "Clock Watcher" over some breakbeat rhythms and a funky organ groove. "I love Black Thought from the Roots, Common Sense, Raekwon, Method Man, GhostFace," he says. "I like the rhythmic aspect of hip-hop. I used to do it a lot more - when I was younger, it felt more natural to be rapping. But I think it's an age thing - now that I'm in my late 20s, I don't feel that way, so I can't be that way."

Greenspun returns to the Rongovian Embassy Saturday night for a 10 p.m. show. He'll be joined by Nate "Silas" Richardson on guitar, Tim Reppert on bass and Donna the Buffalo's Kathy Ziegler (keyboards) and Tom Gilbert (drums).

Visit crowgreenspun.com to learn more.

Click below to hear songs from the Crow Greenspun's debut CD, "Never Be Its Own"

 "The Lucky Ones" 3.0 MB

 "Baltimore Oriole" 8.9 MB

 "Get It While You Can" 6.4 MB

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