Greensky Bluegrass

Greensky Bluegrass
From left to right: Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Bont (banjo/vocals), Paul Hoffman (mandolin/vocals), Mike Devol (bass/vocals), David Bruzza (guitar/vocals)
Background information
Origin	Kalamazoo, Michigan, USA
Genres	Progressive bluegrass, jam band
Years active	2000–present
Website	greenskybluegrass.com

Members	Dave Bruzza Paul Hoffman Michael Bont Anders Beck Mike Devol

Past members	Chris Carr Al Bates

Greensky Bluegrass is a five-piece American bluegrass band founded in Kalamazoo, Michigan in 2000.

Career

The band was formed in the fall of 2000 by Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin). 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 Bates and Carr left the band shortly thereafter. In the fall of the same year, bassist Michael Devol joined the group.

In the summer of 2006 the band were winners of the Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Competition,^[1] 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 Railroad Earth.

Greenksy Bluegrass at the 8x10 Club in Baltimore, January 2012

In November 2007 the band released its first live recording Live At Bell's, documenting two shows at Bell's Brewery in their hometown of Kalamazoo, Michigan. Just over a month later Greensky Bluegrass added Anders Beck of Wayword Sons to the line-up, replacing Al Bates on dobro.

In August 2008 the band released their third studio recording Five Interstates, also produced by Tim Carbone.

A live series, All Access was released in 2010 with volumes 1 & 2, featuring live performances in their entirety.

Their fourth, and most critically acclaimed album, Handguns, made its debut on Billboard's Bluegrass Charts at No. 3 in October 2011, and spent nine weeks on the chart, landing at No. 33 for 2011 on Billboard's Year End Bluegrass Chart.

Collaborations

On-stage collaborations have paired Greensky Bluegrass with:

Phil Lesh^[2]
Bill Kreutzman & Papa Mali,^[3]
Cornmeal,^[4]
The Hackensaw Boys,
The String Cheese Incident,
Del McCoury,
Fruition,
Larry Keel,^[5]
Railroad Earth,
Sam Bush,^[6] and
Steppin’ In It.
Billy Strings

Some of the acts the band has also shared bills with include:

Discography

Title	Album details	Peak chart positions
Title	Album details	US Grass	US	US Indie
Less Than Supper	Release date: 2004 Label: Big Blue Zoo	—	—	—
Tuesday Letter	Release date: August 2, 2006 Label: Big Blue Zoo	—	—	—
Live at Bell's	Release date: 2007 Label: Big Blue Zoo	—	—	—
Five Interstates	Release date: September 9, 2008 Label: Big Blue Zoo	—	—	—
All Access Vol. 1	Release date: 2009 Label: Big Blue Zoo	—	—	—
All Access Vol. 2	Release date: December 14, 2010 Label: Big Blue Zoo	—	—	—
Handguns	Release date: October 2, 2011 Label: Big Blue Zoo	3	—	—
If Sorrows Swim	Release date: September 9, 2014 Label: Big Blue Zoo	1	127	22
Shouted, Written Down & Quoted	Release date: September 23, 2016^[7] Label: Big Blue Zoo
"—" denotes releases that did not chart

References

Specific citations

General references

Kalamazoo Gazette
Greensky Bluegrass at CMT.com

External links

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