Greensky Bluegrass welcomed Billy Strings and Jennifer Hartswick to the stage as they closed out their winter tour last night at Nashville, TN’s Ryman Auditorium.
Rising hometown hero Daniel Donato and his band Cosmic Country opened up the evening’s festivities and once again showed why they are turning heads far beyond the municipality of Music City.
Daniel Donato – Ryman Auditorium – Nasvhille, TN – 3/9/24
“Y’all ready for this?” Greensky mandolinist Paul Hoffman asked the crowd before the band jumped right in with “What You Need”. After warming up the audience, Hoffman passed vocal duties on down the line to guitarist Dave Bruzza for a foreboding run through “Blood Sucking F(r)iends”.
Now fully in the groove, Greensky started tossing out tunes like “Grow Together” and a most tasty “Wish I Didn’t Know” that flowed effortlessly into the crime noir flavored “Burn Them”. From there, it was time for the first guest of the evening, Trey Anastasio Band vocalist and trumpeter Jennifer Hartswick, who brought her horn and soulful singing to the stage for a memorable two-song sit-in.
Hartswick joined in on a cover of the Bill Withers classic “Ain’t No Sunshine” before showcasing her range on “New And Improved”. After a moving but tantalizingly short visit, Hartswick left Greensky Bluegrass to finish the set with a howling “Windshield” that featured a vast, wandering jam, and a quick “Run Or Die”.
Greensky Bluegrass – Ryman Auditorium – Nasvhille, TN – 3/9/24
Following a short set break, Hoffman took the opportunity to remind folks that even though daylight savings was stealing an hour from them later that evening/morning, since 2024 is a leap year, they got an extra 23 hours to do anything. “What would you do with those hours? You could do good. You could do bad… You can do… whatever the HELL you want!” he said before launching into “Leap Year”, putting a positive spin on the usually despairing line, “How can one more day make a year so long?”
As for this “Leap Year”, the instrumental section went so far afield it was easy to forget what song the band was playing. Of note was a bass breakdown from Michael Devol in which he effortlessly held down the pocket while escaping its constraints.
Wasting no time, Greensky went ahead and brought out a returning guest from night one, the red-hot top-selling bluegrass wunderkind himself, Billy Strings. The mutual love between these longtime partners in musical crime got “Fixin’ To Ruin” anyone’s attempts to not enjoy the evening. After some fun during the first lyrical section of the piece, “Fixin’” featured yet another stellar instrumental breakdown a banjo feature by Mike Bont and some back-and-forth between Anders and Billy.
Bruzza wasn’t about to be left out of the fun. His lead vocal duties on “Radio Blues” were impeccable as always, but his work in the three-way six-string jam with Strings and Beck was a wild journey worth revisiting. After Hoffman guided the band through “Screams”, Bruzza again took lead for another impressive showing on “Monuments”, etching his name on whatever trophy this show ends up winning.
After all that, GSBG ended the evening with an epic sequence combining one of Strings’ tunes with one of their own, “Don’t Lie” > “Meet Me at the Creek” > “Don’t Lie” > “Meet Me at the Creek” > “Don’t Lie” featuring assistance from mandolinist Jarod Walker of Billy Strings’ band and a tease of Phish‘s “Tweezer (Reprise)”.
Greensky capped off the night and closed the band’s winter tour with “Time to Move On”.
Check out photos, fan-shot video, and full-show audio from Greensky Bluegrass’ winter tour finale at Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium below. The band is off the road for a while but will return to the stage for festival appearances at Mill Valley Music Festival, DelFest, Dark Star Jubilee, Northlands Music & Arts Festival, Bonnaroo, High Sierra Music Festival, and more, plus shows with the California Honeydrops and Andy Frasco & The U.N. For a full list of the band’s upcoming shows and to purchase tickets, head here.
Greensky Bluegrass With Billy Strings & Jarrod Walker – “Don’t Lie” > “Meet Me At The Creek” > “Don’t Lie” – 3/9/24
Greensky Bluegrass – Ryman Auditorium – Nasvhille, TN – 3/9/24 [Full Audio]
[Audio – Papaphunk]
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Setlist: Greensky Bluegrass | Ryman Auditorium | Nashville, TN | 3/9/24
Set 1: What you Need, Blood Sucking F(r)iends, Grow Together, Wish I Didn’t Know > Burn Them, Ain’t No Sunshine (Bill Withers) (w/Jennifer Hartswick), New & Improved (w/Jennifer Hartswick), Windshield, Run or Die
Set 2: Leap Year, Fixin’ To Ruin (w/Billy Strings), Radio Blues (w/Billy Strings), Screams (w/Billy Strings), Monument (w/Billy Strings), Don’t Lie > Meet Me at the Creek > Don’t Lie > Meet Me at the Creek > Don’t Lie (w/Billy Strings)
Encore: Time to Move On
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