Photo: J. VanBuhler

Greensky Bluegrass CD Release
Wealthy Theatre, Grand Rapids
March 6, 6:45 p.m.
$15 general public, $12 members

In the age of online shopping, Web conferencing, and Google anything, many of the traveling professions of yesteryear-meter readers, itinerant preachers, and door-to-door salesmen-have fallen by the wayside. Not so with modern-day minstrels, as the acoustic quintet Greensky Bluegrass so emphatically proves.

Based out of Kalamazoo, Greensky Bluegrass has been traveling constantly since 2005. Last year alone the jamgrass band tallied more than 170 live shows, lighting up stages all over the country, at venues large and small, indoors and out-of-doors, including numerous bluegrass festivals, most notably the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in Colorado, which attracts more than 10,000 attendants. After its first appearance there in 2006, Greensky Bluegrass left as the winners of Telluride's Band Contest.

"Our model for success is word-of-mouth, turning people on to our music one by one, and that's only by playing live around the country. And that model is working," said Anders Beck, dobro player for the band.

170 shows a year amounts to some 200 days on the road, a hectic schedule that Beck admits can be both draining and invigorating.

"We like to tell people, ‘We get paid to drive around the country; we play music for free.'"

Bluegrass is a genre that traditionally cherishes live performances, and Greensky Bluegrass honored that tradition by releasing a live album, All Access: Volume I. The album is a two-disc set featuring nearly 30 songs from a fall 2009 concert. Mixed and mastered for studio-sound quality, the songs are nearly all Greensky originals with a few unexpected covers of the classic rock favorites such as Bob Dylan, Pink Floyd, and The Beatles.

"The reason we decided to release the live album is because it's different," Beck said. "There are 15 minutes songs on there. We get weird. We jam. So we wanted to create that feeling of a live show."

Beck says to expect the same level of activity from Greensky in 2010. They will be playing at Wealthy Theatre for the first time on March 6. Tickets are $15 for the general public; $12 for members. Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Show starts at 7:30.

In addition to Beck, Greensky Bluegrass consists of Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).