On Friday night, Greensky Bluegrass played host to a memorable family affair at Pelham, TN’s The Caverns Amphitheater with help from The Wood Brothers and surprise guest Billy Strings.
After The Wood Brothers got the evening started with a set of their own, Greensky took the stage and dove in with “Reasons to Stay”. The Stress Dreams track moved swiftly into fan-favorite “Leap Year”, which took a welcome detour through Jimi Hendrix classic “Foxy Lady”.
“Blood Sucking F(r)iends”, “Grow Together”, “Screams”, and a searing “Burn Them” > “Courage For The Road” segment set up a haunting “Before Bring Out Your Dead” > “Bring Out Your Dead” before the band welcomed Billy Strings to the fold for a romp through Lester Flatt‘s “I’ll Stay Around”.
Related: The Final Verse: 20 Years Of Northwest String Summit Come To A Close [Photos/Videos]
Strings, who toured with Greensky as a supporting act for many moons, wound up sticking around for the rest of the performance. After their nod to Flatt, the Billy-augmented sextet offered up the Greensky Bluegrass debut of “In The Morning Light“. The song, co-written by Billy Strings and Paul Hoffman, appears on Billy’s latest album, Renewal. While Strings sings the tune on his record, Hoffman handled the vocals on this live rendition, giving fans a new perspective on the collaborative creation.
Billy returned the favor on the following tune, singing lead on a unique rendition of the 2008 Hoffman favorite, “Reverend”. A pairing of “Worry For You” a “Don’t Lie” finally brought the set to a close.
That atmosphere of mutual artistic admiration bubbled over to the encore as Greensky Bluegrass and Billy Strings were joined by Jano Rix, Chris Wood, and Oliver Wood for a collective performance of “Luckiest Man”, the Wood Brothers favorite that Greensky has been covering for the better part of a decade. With time for one more, the Greensky Bluegrass/Billy Strings/Wood Brothers combo closed out the night with a sing-along cover of “Second That Emotion” (Smokey Robinson).
Check out the complete setlist, view a gallery of photos via Dylan Langille/ontheDL, and watch a selection of videos below.
Greensky Bluegrass and The Wood Brothers continue on to Raleigh tonight, Saturday, August 20th, for a performance at Red Hat Amphitheater. For a complete list of upcoming Greensky tour dates, head here. For a complete list of upcoming The Wood Brothers tour dates, head here. For a complete list of upcoming Billy Strings tour dates, head here.
Setlist: Greensky Bluegrass | The Caverns Amphitheater | Pelham, TN | 8/19/22
Set: Reasons to Stay > Leap Year > Foxy Lady (Jimi Hendrix) > Leap Year, Blood Sucking F(r)iends, Grow Together, Screams, Burn Them > Courage For The Road, Before Bring Out Your Dead > Bring Out Your Dead, I’ll Stay Around (Lester Flatt)^, In The Morning Light*%, Reverend^, Worry For You* > Don’t Lie*
Encore: Luckiest Man (The Wood Brothers)#, Second That Emotion (Smokey Robinson)*#
Notes:
* w/ Billy Strings (guitar)
^ w/ Billy Strings (vocals, guitar)
# w/ Jano Rix (drums, keys), Chris Wood (bass, vocals), Oliver Wood (guitar, vocals)
% First time played by Greensky. Co-written by Paul Hoffman and Billy Strings for Billy’s record, Renewal. Paul sang this version.
