While you may not know it looking at the 2024 Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival lineup, the fest has it’s roots planted in jam band tradition. While the days of the headliner spots being filled with names like The Dead, Widespread Panic, and a plethora of Phish sets are gone, Bonnaroo still weaves a few jamming names onto the roster. This year, one of the bands helping to keep that jam-band banner flying high is Greensky Bluegrass.
Formed in 2000 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, Greensky Bluegrass is an American progressive bluegrass band known for their innovative blend of bluegrass and rock. Over the years, the group has carved a niche with their improvisational live performances which enter that festival-friendly realm of jamgrass. Growing from three members to a stage-filling quintet, the band consists of Dave Bruzza (guitar), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Anders Beck (dobro), Mike Devol (bass), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin), with the majority of the band sharing vocals. With albums like “If Sorrows Swim” and “All For Money,” Greensky Bluegrass has garnered a devoted fan base and critical acclaim in the Americana music scene.
More recently, Greensky Bluegrass released The Iceland Sessions. This album marks a significant departure from their previous work, both in its geographic inspiration and musical experimentation. As the title implies, the album was recorded in Iceland where the band took full advantage of the isolation and natural wonder to create an album that sounds bigger and frankly more distinguished than standard jamgrass fare. The band also welcomed pianist Holly Bowling to collaborate on The Iceland Sessions. The addition of real piano sounds versus more generic, synthesized “keys,” adds a distinctive flare throughout.
The Iceland Sessions began with the band’s decision to embrace the solitude and natural beauty of Iceland. Greensky Bluegrass found that change of pace by setting up their recording sessions in the remote Flóki Studios, surrounded by glaciers, volcanic fields, and rugged coastlines.
If there is one criticism of Greensky Bluegrass, it’s that they are good at too many things. By melding so many genres—bluegrass, jam, folk—Greensky Bluegrass’s music often fits more into a feeling than a sound. Sometimes there is so much going on, your mind simply has trouble distilling the experience. However, starting right from the opening track, “Born Again,” the listener will realize The Iceland Sessions is not your average Greensky Bluegrass album. The album demonstrates tremendous musical maturity and feels focused and complete. (But don’t worry festival friends, there’s plenty of jams included).
The aforementioned “Born Again” makes a strong argument to contain the band’s best lyricism, full of contemplation. Even with the jangle of banjo and Bowling’s crisp piano interludes keeping the track feeling upbeat, after several listens we are still not sure if the closing lyrics “Crooked, narrow, dark and steep/ with every step, I pray to keep/My footing on the brink of the abyss” is full of optimism or brooding.
The following “Distracted” marks a sharp change in pace as the band turns to storytelling lyricism. The song has all of the bluegrass elements we’d look for but touches on memories of vocal-forward 90’s alternative rock such as Counting Crows and Collective Soul. On “Entirely Mine,” the band switches into ballad mode. The emotional grit in the vocals almost makes you forget that there’s bluegrass playing in the background.
If there were one track that feels built from the ground up for the band’s dynamic live performances, it would be album closer, “Solstice.” The song delves into the electric side of grass and is full of distortion and reverb. The franticly picked rhythm is so infectious, it would be impossible to not at least tap a toe along to it—for those going to Bonnaroo, this one is going to be a true dance song if it makes its way onto the setlist. Bowling’s piano is simply fierce and makes the track something that stands out from our notions of what Bluegrass can be.
One of the album’s most compelling aspects is its ability to maintain the core of Greensky Bluegrass’s identity while venturing into uncharted musical territories. The band’s instrumental prowess is on full display, yet it’s the overall craftsmanship of the record that stands out. This is the type of album that should get the notice of critics yet hits all the right notes for those who just want to jam.
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