As Bell tells it, he stumbled into the booking game through a happy accident.
“A friend of mine were sitting around a bar one night talking about how many bands we knew and how many friends we had who were in bands, and we were talking this other guy that I worked with who said, oh, yeah, I have a hall that I could let you rent out, and then you could have bands there, and you could use our liquor license to sell beer," he told WAMC. "So, we got three or four bands together that we that we knew, and got a bunch of friends out and had a party.”
In the years since the launch of Guthrie/Bell Productions with friend Jeff Guthrie, and over hundreds of shows, Bell – a fervent fan of jam band pioneers the Grateful Dead – has managed to live his dream several times over.
“I was able to co-promote a Phil and Friends show at the Washington Avenue Armory, Phil Lesh from the Dead," he said. "And also, a Phil Lesh and Friends show up at Glens Falls Civic Center, which I co-promoted with my buddy Chuck Chao out of Syracuse. And I did a show at Revolution Hall with Bill Kreutzmann from the Grateful Dead, and got up and sang background vocals on ‘Going Down The Road Feeling Bad.’ Standing on stage, thinking I was singing with a member of the Grateful Dead- So, I couldn't get much higher than that.”
Another favorite memory comes from a show he booked for prog rock legend Robert Fripp of King Crimson when his ProjeKct Two act swung through Albany in 1998.
“I was told by the agent and management, don't talk to Robert, leave Robert alone, he doesn't like to be bothered," said Bell. "And I stand there, and he came out of the men's room at Valentine's, and I said, well, screw this. I'm going to say hello to him. So, I said, oh, hey, Robert, my name is Greg Bell, I'm the promoter here. He looks at me and says, ‘Greg Bell must die,’ which somebody had printed on the bathroom wall, and because he thought people didn't like me, he put his hand out and shook it and told me how much he loved that saying.”
While Bell will all but assuredly live to book another concert, he’s calling time on his official career with one final show at the Palace Theatre on Saturday. Fittingly, the headliner is moe.
“moe. was a band that I started out with towards the end of 1993, before anybody knew who they were," he said. "Their first show at Valentine's downstairs had three paid people at it, and I saw something in the band. So, I kept bringing them back, and they started drawing more people, started drawing more people, and then they were signed by big time booking agency.”
Bell has been working the Upstate New York jam stalwarts for over 30 years, and he reckons he’s booked the cult act more than anyone else in the United States over their 35-year career so far.
“I have become good friends with those guys, and they basically took me from being a guy doing local and regional stuff to a guy who was doing national bands, because through their agent, I started getting bigger shows and more shows," Bell said. "And I mean, they're as much responsible for my career going as far as it did as anybody, I would say. So, when I decided I was going to start packing it up, I called them up and I asked them if they would mind playing the show for me before I retired, and they had planned on taking the whole month off, but they decided to do it for me because they felt they owed it to me for all the work that I've done with over the years.”
Rob Derhak, who sings, writes, and plays bass in moe., said the band was only too happy to play Bell’s retirement party.
“He saw something in us when nobody else did in that area, and just kept booking us and getting us shows," Derhak told WAMC. "We have used him consistently as the promoter, and we have partnered with him our entire careers.”
Bell hopes he’s done his part to put Albany and the broader Capital Region on the music map, and to disprove claims that the area isn’t oozing with creativity, excitement, and opportunities for discovery.
“People need to go out see new music, support new music," he said, "and enjoy the fact that they live in an area that is so eclectic in their musical style that you could see almost any style music only almost any given night of the week, you know?”
