Greensky Bluegrass is a five-piece American bluegrass jam band founded in

Kalamazoo, Michigan Kalamazoo ( ) is a city in Kalamazoo County, Michigan, United States, and its county seat. At the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Kalamazoo had a population of 73,598. It is the principal city of the Kalamazoo–Portage metropolitan are ...

in mid-2000. The band has evolved over the years, growing from 3 to 5 members, adding electric effects, and touring with a full light show. Partly because of their name, many articles written about the band address the fact that what Greensky does is "not quite" bluegrass. In their own promotional material, GSBG describes their sound as "their own version of bluegrass music, mixing the acoustic stomp of a string band with the rule-breaking spirit of rock & roll".

Career

The band was formed in the fall of 2000 by Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin), who initially played together at an open mic night. As newcomers to the bluegrass scene, the three drew upon an array of influences and varied musical backgrounds, reflected in their May 2004 release of ''Less than Supper'', recorded with bassist Chris Carr and dobro player Al Bates. Both Carr and Bates left the band shortly thereafter. Classical cellist Michael Devol had approached Greensky with an offer to assist in management, but ended up joining the group as bassist in the fall of 2004. The group explains their cohesion to being more of a brotherhood than a band. In the summer of 2006 the band were winners of the

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Band Competition, earning them a spot on the main stage of the 2007 festival. Soon thereafter they released their second studio album, ''Tuesday Letter'', produced by Tim Carbone of

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. They rounded out their line-up in 2007 when they added Dobroist Anders Beck. GSBG 2012

On September 23, 2016 Greensky Bluegrass released their album ''Shouted, Written Down & Quoted'' produced by

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and Co-Produced/Engineered, Mixed and Mastered by Glenn Brown. The bulk of this album was recorded in Asheville, North Carolina in October, 2015. Greensky Bluegrass continued touring, and on January 10, 2020, they released ''Courage for the Road: Fall 2019 (Live)'', the first part of two live albums released that year. They followed it with ''Courage for the Road: Winter 2020 (Live)'' in March 2020. GSBG-WWG

On Jan 21st, 2022 they released their latest studio effort "Stress Dreams" produced, recorded, mixed and mastered by Glenn Brown.

Collaborations

On-stage collaborations have paired Greensky Bluegrass with: *

Phil Lesh Philip Chapman Lesh (March 15, 1940 – October 25, 2024) was an American musician and a founding member of the Grateful Dead, with whom he developed a unique style of improvised six-string bass guitar. He was their bassist throughout their 30 ...

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Papa Mali Malcolm "Papa Mali" Welbourne (born May 6, 1957) is an American record producer, guitarist, singer, and songwriter who grew up in Shreveport, Louisiana, United States, and lives in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States. His debut recording ''T ...

* Cornmeal *

Larry Keel Larry Dwayne Keel (born November 25, 1968) is an American bluegrass musician from Southwest Virginia who has been performing since 1976. He was a founding member of Magraw Gap in 1990. He also performs with his wife, bassist Jenny Keel, in The L ...

Sam Bush Charles Samuel Bush (born April 13, 1952) is an American mandolinist who is considered an originator of progressive bluegrass music. In 2020, he was inducted into the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame as a member of New Grass Revival. ...

Billy Strings Billy Strings (born William Lee Apostol, October 3, 1992) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and Bluegrass music, bluegrass musician. He has released four studio albums, with his album Home (Billy Strings album), ''Home'' winning the ...

Yonder Mountain String Band Yonder Mountain String Band is an American progressive bluegrass group from Nederland, Colorado. Composed of Dave Johnston, Ben Kaufmann, Adam Aijala, Nick Piccininni, and Coleman Smith, the band has released eleven studio albums and six live re ...

Jon Fishman Jon Fishman (born February 19, 1965) is an American drummer and co-founder of the band Phish, which was, in part, named after him. He is credited with co-writing nineteen Phish songs, eight with a solo credit. Early life Fishman was born in Ph ...

* Holly Bowling * Tom Hamilton

Discography

References

;General references:
Kalamazoo Gazette

External links

Official websiteFacebookLive collection
at the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

{{Authority control American bluegrass music groups Musical groups established in 2000 Kalamazoo, Michigan 2000 establishments in Michigan