Old Home Place: Greensky Bluegrass Return to Michigan to Commemorate Silver Anniversary with Sam Bush, Lindsay Lou and Holly Bowling
On Friday, October 31, Greensky Bluegrass retraced their origins to Wings Event Center in Kalamazoo, Mich., to mark the 25th anniversary of their first concert, which took place on the exact day and at the same location as their latest return. As a nod to their silver anniversary, the band donned suits of the same tone, immortalizing their quarter-century career in costume. The gig also featured accompaniment from Sam Bush and Lindsay Lou.
The concert was the first in a series of three live appearances to occur over the weekend, including Saturday afternoon’s single-mic pop-up show at Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Back Room, and their hometown closer and subsequent return to the Wings Center on November 1, with special guest Holly Bowling and returning songstress and fellow Great Lake State musician, Lou. Notably, the band’s arrival marked the release of their latest album, the career-spanning XXV.
As a nod to their homecoming, Greensky Bluegrass stepped out and performed Thin Lizzy’s “The Boys Are Back in Town,” cementing the significance of time and place, before turning to their songbook on “Out & Under,” and “Tied Down.” The band revisited the Stress Dreams cut, “Grow Together,” with help from Lou, who made her Greensky debut during this series of live shows.
The band performed “Run or Die” without a guest, but inevitably welcomed Bush and his fiddle for a combination of “All Four” into a bust out of Leon Russell’s “One More Love Song,” played for the first time since its Oct. 29, 2021, debut by the band at The Ryman. Next, the rarity “Greensky Breakdown” emerged for the first time since June 5, 2014. The high-flying instrumental included Bush, and later, Lou, who sang on “Wish I Didn’t Know” and its pair, “It’s Not Mine Anymore.”
After the evening’s set break, the band returned with their guests and cut into “Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana.” The host positioned “Blood Sucking F(r)iends” next [a song Billy Strings covered during his Halloween gig in Baltimore], followed by seasoned song, “Leap Year”, which folded into follow-up, Prince’s “1999,” before veering back into “Leap Year.” Lou left the stage during “Broke Mountain Breakdown,” but Bush continued to fiddle through “Worry For You.”
The bluegrass great and one-time member of New Grass Revival picked up the mandolin for the night’s only debut for Greensky, performing his own “Circles Around Me.” Randy Travis’
Can’t Stop Now,” a feature of the band’s latest LP, XXV, recorded with Bush, came ahead of the final song of the main frame, the Dave Bruzza-penned “Kerosene.”
After turning in their Halloween spectacle, Greenksky arrived at a local haunt, Bell’s Eccentric Cafe Back Room. The midday appearance found the group performing an acoustic pop-up, while gathered around a single mic, in the bluegrass tradition. During the single set concert, the band played stripped-down renditions of “Tuesday Letter,” “The Radio Blues,” “Lose My Way,” “The Four,” “Broken Highways,” “Hit Parade of Love,” and Bruce Springsteen’s “Atlantic City.”
Later that evening, Greensky was back on the Wings Event Center stage, this time with frequent collaborator Holly Bowling, who sat in on nearly all but the concert’s encore. Also back and ready for more was Lou, who contributed on select numbers. The band stepped into the night by coursing through three songs without stop, including “Reasons to Stay,” and Pink Floyd originals “Time” and “Breathe” reprise.
For Greensky’s next move, they welcomed Lou, who sang on the latest studio rendition of “In Control.” By reprising that role during Saturday’s concert, Lou and the band kicked off a concert segment that birthed additional material from XXV, including “Last Winter in Copper County” and “Windshield,” both of which featured credit to Bowling in streaming and disc form. The second set brought more from their latest release, including “334433,” which followed a bust-out of the Grateful Dead’s “Let It Grow,” played for the first time since June 5, 2023.
“Wings for Wheels” brought Lou back for more, including “Distracted.” For their following number, the band and Bowling referenced XXV, on “Old Barns,” before thinking of the seasons on “Solstice” paired with “Living Order.” They complemented the set with “Past My Prime,” before looping back to “Solstice.”
For their encore, just Greensky honored their roots by covering The Dillards’ “Old Home Place” for the first time since Nov. 12, 2024. They ended their time in Michigan after a final return to XXV, and Jimmy Martin’s songbook, “Drink Up and Go Home.”
Next, Greensky Bluegrass will take the stage tomorrow, Nov. 4, at the Globe Iron in Cleveland. Tickets remain
Greensky Bluegrass
Wings Event Center – Kalamazoo, Mich.
Oct. 31, 2025
Set I: Boys Are Back in Town, Out & Under, Tied Down, Grow Together1, Run or Die, All Four2 > One More Love Song2, Greensky Breakdown2, Wish I Didn’t Know1,2 > It’s Not Mine Anymore1,2
Set II: Granny Wontcha Smoke Some Marijuana1,2, Blood Sucking F(r)iends1,2, Leap Year1,2, > 19991,2, Leap Year1,2, Broke Mountain Breakdown2, Worry for You2, Circles Around Me1,3,4, Can’t Stop Now1,2, Kerosene2
Enc.: (I’ve Had) The Time of My Life1,2
Notes:
- With Lindsay Lou (vocals)
- With Sam Bush (fiddle)
- With Sam Bush (mando, vocals)
- First time played
