On Friday, October 31 and November 1, 2025 Greensky Bluegrass celebrated 25 years as a band over two nights at the Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Mich. The Halloween performance marked the precise date of the group’s debut, which also took place in Kalamazoo. The band members wore silver suits for the October 31 show in honor of their silver anniversary.
The setlists over those two evenings spanned Greensky's career. In addition, three musicians who have maintained close relationships with quintet were on hand. Sam Bush, Holly Bowling and Lindsay Lou guested with the group over these two special performances.
Greensky Bluegrass began as a trio on Halloween 2000, with the lineup of Paul Hoffman (mandolin), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo) and Dave Bruzza (guitar). Last November, Bont told Relix: “Leading up to that [initial gig], Dave and I had found each other and played a handful of open mics together. Then one day, after we’d finished our set, this long-haired kid with the hippie-necklace bling equivalent to Mr. T came up and was like, ‘Hi, my name’s Paul. I just got a mandolin and I’d love to come jam with you guys sometime.’”
Anders Beck (dobro), who completed the current roster in 2007 after Mike Devol (upright bass) joined the group three years earlier, reflected: “In bluegrass music there’s always this technical proficiency thing and we were never quite that because we were sort of raw. We write our own songs instead of playing traditional bluegrass, and that’s where our focus has been—this rock-and-roll thing. So I feel like if there is any sort of legacy to what we’ve done, it’s in normalizing the ability to do whatever the hell you want with this music and not feeling boxed-in by the word bluegrass.”
Greensky Bluegrass has drawn on this expansive repertoire for their first-ever live vinyl release. Live From Kalamazoo collects highlights from both nights of their silver anniversary celebration on a 2-LP vinyl offering. Side A features the quintet on its own. Then Bush appears for all of Side B, with Lindsay Lou joining for "Blood Sucking F(r)iends." Holly Bowling guests throughout Sides C and D while Lindsay Lou returns for a few additional tunes.
Live From Kalamazoo is now available for pre-order. The tracklist appears below:
Side A
The Boys Are Back In Town
Tied Down
Run or Die
Side B
Blood Sucking F(r)iends ft. Lindsay Lou & Sam Bush
All Four ft. Sam Bush >
One More Love Song ft. Sam Bush
Side C
In Control ft. Lindsay Lou & Holly Bowling
Demons ft. Holly Bowling
Let It Grow ft. Holly Bowling
Side D
Solstice ft. Holly Bowling >
Living Over ft. Lindsay Lou & Holly Bowling
Past My Prime ft. Lindsay Lou & Holly Bowling >
Solstice ft. Holly Bowling
