Backstage at the 2019 Crossroads Guitar Festival, songwriter and guitarist Citizen Cope talks preparing for a performance at the festival, the impact of the blues, the place of the guitar solo in modern music, and tapping into the emotional and spiritual side of connecting thru song.

The Cape Cod Roots and Blues Festival is scheduled to take place in Nauset Beach, Massachusetts this Saturday, September 14, 2019. The Festival, in its second year, is a celebration of all things family, music and community. CCRB is presented by G. Love & Special Sauce – with band member Garrett Dutton (aka G. Love) leading the way as a native New Englander.

Citizen Cope, born Clarence Greenwood, has found himself back in the public eye this year with the March release of “Heroin and Helicopters,” his seventh studio outing and first album in seven years.

Born in Memphis, spending summer months with his great aunt and uncle in a small west Texas town, while being raised in Washington, DC, Clarence Greenwood aka Citizen Cope grew up influenced by the production techniques of George Martin, Dr. Dre and Willie Mitchell while listening to everything from Willie Nelson, to John Lennon, Bob Marley, Outkast and A TribeCalled Quest.