booking
Czars of Leisure is the recording and musical project fronted by Greg Roth, a singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist producing “thrift store rock”, which mixes the secondhand stylings of 70s power pop, 80s new wave, 90s college/slacker alternative, and 00s indie/garage rock. A former rock journalist, his treats his setlists like mixtapes and has been described as “the quirkiness of Elvis Costello, the storytelling of Tom Waits and the alt-country styling of Wilco.” (Indie Music Stop)
Born in Bethlehem PA, now based in Alexandria VA, he has released three albums of original music, a soundtrack, a holiday single, and performed in 25 states and 6 countries, including such rock clubs as the State Theater (VA), DC9 (DC), Rock and Roll Hotel (DC), 8×10 (Baltimore), Khyber Pass (Philadelphia), Cafe 111 (New York City), Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta), McGonigle’s (Houston), Turf Club (Minneapolis), Cafe 111 (New York City), plus private parties, corporate events, and professional conferences.
style
Retro mixtape vibes of the 90s 00s 10s
Shuffling originals, covers,
& instrumental jams
Pedals & loops to create 1-man band
Performed in 25 states & 6 countries
places played
VIRGINIA
State Theater (Falls Church)
IOTA
Galaxy Hut
Rhodeside Grill
Jammin Java
Whitlow’s
Port City Brewing
Evening Star Cafe
Vanish Farm Brewery
Chilly Hollow Brewery
Dogwood Tavern
Cobbler Mountain
Adventure Brewing (Fredericksburg)
Poe’s Pub (Richmond)
DC
DC9
Rock and Roll Hotel
Velvet Lounge
The Red & The Black
Wonderland Ballroom
Hard Rock Cafe
Metro Cafe
Staccato Lounge
MARYLAND
8×10 (Baltimore)
49 West (Annapolis)
Austin Grill (Silver Spring)
U.S.
Khyber Pass (Philadelphia)
Grape Street Pub (Philadelphia)
Tritone (Philadelphia)
Cafe 111 (New York City/Brooklyn)
C-Note (NYC)
Kenny’s Castaways (NYC)
Texas Arizona (Hoboken NJ)
Oneal’s (Hoboken NJ)
La Tazza (Providence RI)
Smith’s Olde Bar (Atlanta GA)
Historic Southgate House (Newport KY)
The Cave (Chapel Hill NC)
WC Don’s (Jackson MS)
McGonigle’s (Houston TX)
Stockyard Saloon (Ft. Worth TX)
8.0 (Ft. Worth TX)
Cutter’s (Detroit MI)
Turf Club (Minneapolis MN)
Chatterbox Pub (Minneapolis MN)
Popcorn Tavern (La Crosse WI)
Room 5 (Los Angeles)
Barley Street Tavern (Omaha NE)
Base Camp Lounge (Birmingham AL)
Palmetto Brewing (Charleston SC)
O’Neill Public House (Portland OR)
Slim’s Last Chance (Seattle WA)
East Side Tavern (Boise ID)
Humpy’s (Anchorage AK)
COUNTRIES
USA
Canada
England
Ireland
Portugal
Germany
setlist
While Greg Roth performs as an original artist, he also provides live music and entertainment at breweries, wineries, private parties, corporate events, and conferences geared where cover songs stretch his set times to 3-4 hours. His setlist varies from gig to gig (and from most other solo acoustic artists), but here are some artists he covers to give you general guidelines as to how his songlists for these gigs are built:
90s
R.E.M.
Pearl Jam
Weezer
Black Crowes
Jane’s Addiction
Beck
Beastie Boys
Foo Fighters
Radiohead
Mazzy Star
Cake
00s
Modest Mouse
The Strokes
White Stripes
The Shins
Death Cab for Cutie
Flaming Lips
Vampire Weekend
Feist
Rilo Kiley
Pete Yorn
10s+
Daft Punk
Black Keys
Portugal The Man
Spoon
Tam Impala
Arcade Fire
Arctic Monkeys
Phoebe Bridgers
MJ Lenderman
Waxahatchee
In addition to these three major categories, these artists also show up in sets to complete the mixtape / ipod shuffle feel:
80s
Talking Heads
The Cure
Violent Femmes
The Pixies
The Smiths
Paul Simon
70s
Jimi Hendrix
Rolling Stones
Aerosmith
T. Rex
Van Morrison
Bob Dylan/The Band
Jams
Phish
Grateful Dead
Goose
Galactic
Bruce Hornsby
Allman Brothers
Why, yes, this does seem like alot of information to process about our setlists, but we’ve found it’s helpful for you to know that we pride ourselves on selecting music that people know and enjoy, but don’t hear from most other acoustic performers. That said, we do cover “Shake It Off” by Taylor Swift, in a very alt-country kind of way. Our two little girls enjoy it.
reviews
“Greg gave a great solo guitar performance at my garden cocktail party. Guests said they really enjoyed his music, and he adjusted his playlist to fit the vibe of the crowd.
He was quick to respond via text and email, and arrived on time and set up quickly. He even agreed to delay his performance a bit so we could wait for rain to pass and avoid moving the event indoors. There were no surprises when settling payment — everything was as we agreed.
Enthusiastically recommend Greg to play for your event.”
“Greg did a great job at our corproate event. He accurately read the crowd and knew exactly what to do. He is a wonderful performer, personable, and professional. Definitely recommend!”
“They brought a lively vibe to our venue Metrobar in northeast DC and the guests loved their set!”
“Greg has been a long time performer at Hard Rock Cafe Washington DC. We always enjoy working with him. He brings fans and the crowd loves his set!”
“Greg performed at our restaurant for a festival and did such a great great job. Arrived in time, set up perfectly and the tunes were great. Can’t wait to have him back”