On Saturday night, Greensky Bluegrass wrapped up their two-night run at Washington D.C.’s The Anthem. With Billy Strings on hand as support, the fan-favorite bluegrass five-piece invited out the rising star guitar prodigy to join them during the end of the second set for renditions of “I’d Probably Kill You” and “Kerosene.”
Ahead of the band’s headlining performance, Greensky Bluegrass dobro player Anders Beck returned the favor, guesting with Billy Strings’ band for a take on “Running On Empty” by Jackson Browne. Watch Anders Beck join Billy Strings on “Running On Empty” thanks to fan-shot video captured by Richard Stoler, Jr.:
During Greensky Bluegrass’ opening song, “All For Money,” the band worked in teases of “Groundhog,” appropriately honoring the namesake of the holiday that falls on February 2. After “A Letter To Seymour,” the group used Dave Bruzza’s “Wings For Wheels” to segue into “No Bread In The Breadbox,” which featured teases of “Don’t Lie.” From there, the group ran through straightforward renditions of “Tuesday Letter” and “Wheel Hoss” ahead of “Burn Them,” which featured Keith Kinnear on the tambourine.
As the first frame wound to a close, “Wish I Didn’t Know” led into an 11-minute “Courage For The Road,” a new song off the recently released All For Money, which featured teases of Talking Heads’ “Girlfriend Is Better” and The Dillards’ “Reuben’s Train.” A stellar take on Fleetwood Mac’s “The Chain” closed out set one.
Greensky Bluegrass opened the second set with the one-two hit of “Windshield” into “Do Harm.” Next up was a take on “Bone Digger,” a cover from frequent collaborator Cris Jacobs who also served as support for this current tour. “Murder Of Crows” and “Old Barns,” the latter of which sported a new arrangement, fell ahead of a nearly 13-minute “Worried About The Weather” and “Bring Out Your Dead.”
To close the second frame, Billy Strings appeared for the set’s final two songs: “I’d Probably Kill You” and “Kerosene.” For the first song of collaboration, Strings expertly wielded an electric guitar, before changing over to an acoustic during “Kerosene.” The electric guitar was the “prison guitar” Billy talked about during his recent appearance on The JamBase Podcast. After a brief break, Greensky Bluegrass returned sans special guests to end the evening with an encore of “Past My Prime.”
Listen to Greensky Bluegrass’ Saturday night showing at The Anthem with Billy Strings below, courtesy of Rich Stoler:
Setlist (via Camp Greensky)
Set 1: All for Money (1), A Letter to Seymour, Wings for Wheels > Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox (2), Tuesday Letter, Wheel Hoss, Burn Them (3), Wish I Didn’t Know > Courage for the Road (4)(5), The Chain
Set 2: Windshield > Living Over, Do Harm, Bone Digger (6), Murder of Crows, Old Barns (7), Worried About the Weather > Before Bring Out Your Dead > Bring Out Your Dead, I’d Probably Kill You (8)(9), Kerosene (8)
Encore: Past My Prime
- (1) – Groundhog tease before start
- (2) – Don’t Lie tease
- (3) – w/ Keith Kinnear (tambourine)
- (4) – Girlfriend is Better tease
- (5) – Rueben’s Train tease
- (6) – Death Trip tease
- (7) – New Barns arrangement
- (8) – w/ Billy Strings (prison electric guitar)
- (9) – Billy Strings lyric change
