Greensky Bluegrass has constantly evolved, from its inauspicious start to its silver anniversary.
The jamgrass quintet, which debuted at an impromptu gig in Kalamazoo, Michigan, on Halloween night in 2000, has built a fervent fan base by continually pushing traditional bluegrass forward and across genres. Now, Greensky is now looking back, too, as the band’s new album XXV is set to come out on Friday – 25 years to the day after the band coalesced.
XXV features longtime Greensky friends and collaborators including Sam Bush, Billy Strings, Lindsay Lou, Nathaniel Rateliff, Aoife O’Donovan, and Holly Bowling, among others. The album comprises three previously unreleased songs that are live staples, three covers, and seven previously released fan favorites that were reworked with the help of those guest artists.
“The goal was to elevate the tunes with the singer or the player,” says Greensky’s de facto frontman, Paul Hoffman, calling from home in Golden, Colorado. “Something that led to is rediscovery of meaning through the guest, and also these new mixes.”
