How Greg Conte breathes new life into classic songs with Lookin’ For Trouble, one of Southern California’s most distinctive original blues bands.
“I’ve never been interested in sounding like everyone else.” – Greg Conte
Some musicians spend their careers trying to recreate the past. Greg Conte would rather reinvent it.
As the founder, guitarist, composer, arranger, producer, and creative force behind Southern California’s Lookin’ For Trouble, Conte has built a band around one simple idea: take songs people think they already know and make them hear them all over again.
It’s an approach that’s equal parts respect and reinvention.
When audiences hear the band transform classics like 16 Tons or These Boots Are Made for Walkin’ into high-energy, blues-driven performances, something interesting happens. People smile. They laugh. They start clapping. Familiar songs suddenly feel new again.
For Conte, that’s the whole point. “If they leave smiling,” he says, “we’ve done our job.”
The Beatles Started It All
Conte was born in Hollywood and grew up in California’s San Fernando Valley. Like countless musicians before him, everything changed after hearing one band: The Beatles. “It wasn’t just the songs,” he recalls. “It was the creativity. The arrangements. The harmonies. They made me realize music could be art.”
His mother bought him a modest guitar when he was around ten years old. He played until his fingers hurt. He played until everyone in the house wished he’d take a break. More than fifty years later, he’s still playing.
“I never chose music,” he says. “Music chose me.”
That feeling has never left.
More Than a Guitar Player
Although audiences know him as a guitarist, Conte’s creative reach extends far beyond the stage.
Over the years he has studied music theory, orchestration, and film scoring, earned certification in Pro Tools, built his own recording studio, produced other artists, composed film music, arranged every song performed by Lookin’ For Trouble, created the band’s videos and social media, designed its website, records and mixes its albums, and somehow still finds time to rehearse relentlessly.
Being a bandleader, he admits, can be exhausting.
- Finding the gigs.
- Scheduling rehearsals.
- Recording albums.
- Creating promotional materials.
- Managing social media.
- Writing music.
“It’s doing it all,” he says with a laugh. Yet it’s difficult to imagine him doing anything else.
Looking for Songs… and Trouble
About fifteen years ago, Conte found himself without a band. Rather than join another project, he decided to build the one he wished already existed. He loved blues music, but he wasn’t interested in becoming another traditional blues act faithfully recreating recordings note for note.
Instead, he imagined a band that respected the roots of the blues while adding fresh arrangements, unexpected song choices, and enough rock energy to surprise audiences. The name Lookin’ For Trouble turned out to fit perfectly.
“We’re always looking for songs people don’t expect to hear played our way.”
It’s less about causing trouble than challenging expectations.
A Band Built on Chemistry
Although Greg Conte founded Lookin’ For Trouble, but he’s quick to credit the musicians who bring his ideas to life.
Vocalist Dede Steele brings a lifetime of musical influences to the stage. Raised in a military family, her travels exposed her to a wide range of cultures and musical traditions. From gospel and theater to R&B, classic rock, and blues, those experiences shaped a voice capable of moving effortlessly from soulful restraint to explosive power, giving the band one of its signature sounds. Today, she fronts Lookin’ For Trouble with the confidence of someone whose musical journey has been decades in the making.
On bass, Tim Heatherington provides the steady foundation that anchors the band’s sound. Originally from the Seattle area, he moved to Southern California in the late 1960s and has spent more than forty years performing in a wide variety of musical styles. With an Associate of Arts degree in music from Cerritos College and decades of ensemble experience, Heatherington brings both versatility and quiet confidence to every performance.
Behind the drum kit, Brian Brickeen supplies the heartbeat of the band. Originally from St. Louis, he began playing drums at age ten and was already performing professionally by nineteen. His career has taken him through regional music scenes in Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Orlando, and eventually Southern California. Whether in the recording studio or on stage, Brickeen’s approach emphasizes a solid groove complemented by tasteful fills—an ideal match for the band’s blues-driven arrangements.
Together, the four musicians have developed a reputation for being exceptionally tight, a quality Conte attributes to hard work as much as talent.
“We rehearse very hard for our events,” he says. “It shows.” Audiences seem to agree.
Over the years, Lookin’ For Trouble has built a loyal following while sharing stages with artists including Charlie Musselwhite, Tommy Castro & The Painkillers, Big Bad Voodoo Daddy, Poco, and many others.
The band’s accomplishments also include induction into the L.A. Blues Hall of Fame as both a Great Blues Band and Great Blues Artist, recognition Conte considers especially meaningful because it comes from people who truly understand the music he loves.
More Than the Blues
Despite the band’s name, Conte doesn’t believe blues belongs to one generation. He regularly sees younger audiences discovering live music for the first time and connecting with songs that have been around for decades.
“Good music is good music,” he says. “If you play it with energy and honesty, people connect with it.”
That philosophy extends beyond the band’s performances.
Conte also helped establish LiveJam Events, a nonprofit concert series in Menifee designed to give musicians, artists, local businesses, and the community a place to come together. Each event showcases live music alongside local artwork and restaurants, creating evenings that celebrate creativity in all its forms.
For Conte, it’s simply another way to give something back to the music community that has given him so much.
Chasing the Sound in His Head
More than thirty years ago, Conte worked with company founder Paul Hamer to design a custom Hamer guitar that remains his primary instrument to this day. Although he owns many instruments, including a Les Paul-style guitar he built himself, that Hamer still goes to every show. He also remains devoted to Egnater amplifiers in pursuit of the warm, expressive tone he hears in his imagination.
“I’ve never been interested in sounding like everyone else,” he explains. “I’m always chasing the sound that’s in my head, not somebody else’s.”
That sentence may be the best description of Greg Conte’s entire career.
Whether he’s arranging a familiar song in an unexpected way, writing original music, producing an album, restoring a classic car, or stepping on stage with Lookin’ For Trouble, he’s guided by the same instinct that first inspired a ten-year-old boy after hearing The Beatles.
Create something authentic. Create something memorable. And if the audience walks away smiling, all the better.
Beyond the Stage
Although music occupies most of Greg Conte’s day, it isn’t his only creative outlet. When he isn’t writing songs, recording albums, or preparing for the band’s next performance, there’s a good chance you’ll find him in the garage with grease on his hands instead of a guitar.
A lifelong admirer of classic automobiles, Conte has restored several vintage cars over the years. His current project is perhaps his most ambitious yet: a 1985 Rolls-Royce Corniche. It’s a hand-built luxury automobile known for craftsmanship, patience, and attention to detail. That’s not the kind of project someone undertakes on a whim. It requires many of the same qualities that go into arranging music.
“It’s challenging,” he says with a smile, “but it’s a wonderful car.”
Conte appreciates craftsmanship. The long hood, chrome grille, hand-built details, and understated styling all reflect the same appreciation for quality that comes through in his music.
Like creating a new arrangement from an old song, bringing a vintage automobile back to life requires patience, problem-solving, and an appreciation for craftsmanship. Nothing is rushed. Every detail matters.
The same philosophy shows up in everywhere in his life. Whether he’s rebuilding a Rolls-Royce, designing a guitar, or reinventing a blues classic, Greg Conte approaches every project the same way: with curiosity, craftsmanship, and the desire to create something uniquely his own.
Perhaps that’s what has defined Greg Conte’s career all along. He’s never been interested in simply preserving the past. He’s interested in discovering new life within it.
Whether it’s an overlooked blues classic, a familiar pop song waiting for a fresh arrangement, or a community brought together through live music, he approaches each project with the same question: “What could this become?”
For audiences, the answer is ninety minutes of great music and a room full of smiles. For Greg Conte, it’s another opportunity to create something authentic…
And that’s exactly the kind of trouble he’s happy to keep looking for.
Connect with Lookin’ For Trouble
Lookin’ For Trouble continues performing throughout Southern California. Visit their website and social media channels for upcoming shows, music, and videos.
Website: www.lookinfortrouble.com
Check out their latest Lookin’ for Trouble album on Bandcamp.com
Social Media Links:
YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/@lookinfortroubleblueschann2304
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/LookinForTroubleBluesBand/
INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/lookinfortroubleblues/
TIKTOK: https://www.tiktok.com/@lookinfortrouble2021
Email Contact: greg@lookinfortrouble.com
Phone Contact: 818-571-9245
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