Greensky Bluegrass at Red Rocks with the California Honeydrops
Bluegrass music always puts me in an autumnal mood – must be from over a decade of living in the Southeast and spending falls in the Blue Ridge and Great Smoky Mountains. So when the first cool, fall-like evening of September finally rolled into Colorado, what better place to spend it than at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with Greensky Bluegrass. The Michigan-born jamgrass band started their annual stand at America’s nest outdoor venue last Friday, playing a solid three hours of original songs and instrumental jams.
After a high-energy, horn-stacked, soulful set from opener The California Honeydrops (including the excellent new song, “The Old Red Highway”), Greensky kicked off the show with “Born Again.” featured on their latest EP, The Iceland Session. Piano and keyboard player Holly Bowling joined the band on that recording, and she quickly proved to be a crowd favorite in Morrison on Friday night. An early highlight was the Dobro-filled (via Anders Beck) “Courage for the Road,” which prompted the band to mention, “It’s terrifying to play here!” (understandable, but the five-piece, traditional-instrument band, plus Bowling’s virtuosic piano playing, were more than enough to fill up The Rocks). Anders had another stand-out moment during “Broke Mountain Breakdown,” a song written for Anders’ “other” project, Colorado-based Broke Mountain Bluegrass Band. The first set concluded with a monumental take on the band’s “Windshield,” as Bowling (from the area of the soundboard) covered lead singer/mandolin player Paul Hoffman on piano as he scaled all 70 rows up the amphitheatre, still managing to sing at the enhanced elevation. True rock-star stuff.
If I might be permitted a rant/rave – traditional bluegrass fans are rather strict on the inclusion of non-stringed instruments. Drums are (typically) a hard no, and keys are iffy at best. The current newgrass wave, however, is challenging those rules, and nothing exemplified this attitude adjustment better than Bowling’s presence. Also from Michigan, she has a jammy history, from solo performances of music from the Grateful Dead and Phish catalogs to playing on-stage with any number of jam-band luminaries (including Bob Weir, Phil Lesh and Warren Haynes). She also was in the band Ghost Light. In short, her stunningly improvisational playing elevated the night.
Set #2 began with “Worried About the Weather,” one of several songs where guitarist Dave Bruzza took over lead vocals. The Honeydrop Horns returned to the stage on the farewell-to-summer “Miss September” and “New and Improved.” The band then broke out “In the Morning Light,” a tune Hoffman penned with longtime friend Billy Strings, before closing the set with “Don’t Lie.” Greensky Bluegrass returned for an encore with all of the Honeydrops, reminding the crowd, “Don’t forget to vote, y’all,” before launching into the Grateful Dead’s “Man Smart, Woman Smarter.” As we enter a critical electoral autumn, it was an important message to leave in our ears as we left.
Greensky Bluegrass is Anders Beck (Dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).
Check out Greensky Bluegrass tour dates here: https://greenskybluegrass.com/tour/
California Honeydrops tour dates: https://cahoneydrops.com/tour-dates/
Holly Bowling tour dates: https://www.hollybowling.com/
Enjoy our previous coverage here: Show Review: Greensky Bluegrass at the Civic in NOLA
