Photo: Steve Baran – Greensky Bluegrass & Steppin' In It in white t-shirts for Michael Bont's birthday
Greensky Bluegrass headed home to Michigan this past weekend for a three-night music and camping event at Shagbark Farm in Caledonia presented by Hoxeyville Productions.
As mandolinist/vocalist Paul Hoffman explained in a statement when the event was announced, “Michigan is the home of Greensky Bluegrass. Not in 20 years have we gone this long without performing there. I’ve never even been away this long. In my whole life. The excitement is overwhelming.”
In addition to two nightly headlining sets by Greensky, each concert featured support by a different artist. Sierra Hull opened the show on Friday, July 16th, followed the next evening by Railroad Earth, and finally Steppin’ In It on Sunday.
With so many talented friends in attendance, the openers unsurprisingly found their way onstage during the headlining performances. On Friday, opener Sierra Hull hopped in with Greenksy on gospel/grass staple “Working On A Building”, the band’s first-ever cover of Phish‘s “If I Could”, and a stompin’ rendition of “Burn Them”. Later, the band closed out the second set with a thrilling, back-and-forth “Tarpology”/”One Slip” segment.
On Saturday night, after Railroad Earth opened the festivities, RRE’s Tim Carbone and John Skehan (and more) joined in with Greensky on a number of tunes, from an appropriate “Hoxeyville” to the Grateful Dead‘s “Cassidy”.
Later on Saturday evening, Greensky Bluegrass ventured out from the main stage to a pagoda in the campgrounds for a cover-heavy late-night set that also featured some guest appearances by Carbone. Scroll down to watch Greensky perform “After Midnight” at the Saturday late-night set.
Sunday brought some additional festive layers to the proceedings as Greensky Bluegrass banjoist Michael Bont celebrated his birthday. Feeling the celebratory spirit, Greensky’s Paul Hoffman made his way into the audience to ride the rail for the opening set by Steppin’ In It, a band with which Greensky has maintained a close friendship for many years.
Continuing the weekend trend, Greensky welcomed Steppin’ In It to the stage for the weekend’s final encore for a rendition of “Dustbowl Overtures” followed by the band’s debut performance of Bob Seger& The Silver Bullet Band‘s “Against The Wind”. In an homage to Bont’s birthday, the entire cast onstage donned his trademark white t-shirt for the Sunday performance. Beyond that, Greensky let the audience get in on the themed outfits when the birthday boy fired a white t-shirt cannon into the crowd.
Below, you can check out setlists, audio, and video from each of the three nights (including a clip of “After Midnight” from the Saturday late-night set) as well as photos from the weekend courtesy of photographer Steve Baran.
Set 1: Tied Down, Kerosene, Old Home Place, Do It Alone, Living Over, I’m Working on a Building*1, If I Could I Would*^, Burn Them*, Grow Together
Set 2: Before Bring Out Your Dead, Bring Out Your Dead, In Control, All for Money, Hit Parade of Love, All Four, I’d Probably Kill You, Tarpology > One Slip > Tarpology >One Slip > Tarpology
Encore: Windshield
*w/ Sierra Hull (mando, vocals)
^first time played
Greensky Bluegrass – Snagbark Farm – Caledonia, MI – 7/16/21 – Full Show
Set One: Less than Supper, Run or Die, Bottle Dry*, Hoxeyville*, I Lose My Way*, Molly Rose^&, Demons, Leap Year
Set Two: Past My Prime, Fixin To Ruin, Stress Dreams, The Radio Blues, What Happened to Jim?, Can’t Stop Now, Cassidy*#, Don’t Lie*#
Set Three: Bringing in the Georgia Mail, Small Axe, I’m Still Here*, Down the Road*, Atlantic City*, Never Love Anybody But You, The Four, After Midnight, Old Barns, When Doves Cry
Encore: Tonight I’ll Be Staying Here With You1
*w/ Tim Carbone (fiddle)
^w/ Willy Tea Taylor (vocals, guitar)
&first time played
#w/ John Skehan (mando)
Notes: Set 3 was played late-night on a side stage in the campgrounds
Greensky Bluegrass – Snagbark Farm – Caledonia, MI – 7/17/21 – Full Show
Set One: What You Need, Blood Sucking F(r)iends, Reverend, Road to Nowhere*, Courage for the Road, Miss September, Wings for Wheels, Broke Mountain Breakdown, The Wind Cries Mary, Broke Mountain Breakdown Reprise
Set Two: Wish I Didn’t Know, It’s Not Mine Anymore, Courage for the Road, A Letter to Seymour, Last Winter in the Copper Country^, Jaywalking, Ain’t No Bread in the Breadbox, Worried About the Weather
Encore: Dustbowl Overtures&, Against the Wind&#
*w/ Mike Lynch
^w/ Joshua Davis (guitar, vocals)
&w/ Steppin’ In It
#first time played
Greensky Bluegrass – Snagbark Farm – Caledonia, MI – 7/18/21 – Show Preview [Pro-Shot]
