We got a note today from Carol Beaugard alerting us to the fact that she will have Greensky Bluegrass live on her Lonesome Pine RFD radio program on Friday morning (7/30). The show airs from 9:00 a.m. to noon in the new York City metro market on WFDU-FM, 89.1, and via online streaming at www.wfdu.fm.

Carol fills in a few details…

“Band members Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin) will play an explosive hour of their signature mix of traditional/jam band rock influenced Americana sounds.

Greensky Bluegrass is touring in support of their recently released fourth album, Five Interstates, which was produced by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth. The album features twelve original tracks and one traditional bluegrass song (a nod to the deceased King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin) and showcases the band’s songwriting and playing talents.  Since winning the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, Greensky has played over 170 shows a year. Recent highlights include sharing the stage with musical heroes, such as Tony Rice and Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth.”

Greensky will perform live starting at 11:00 a.m. Should you miss the show live, it will be available in the WFDU archives after the program airs.

Greensky Bluegrass has made quite a name for themselves as a live act since winning the Telluride Bluegrass Festival band contest in 2006. They work a grueling schedule (more than 170 shows annually), and have a loyal following in the alt-bluegrass, jamgrass world.

Michael Arlen Bont is on banjo, Dave Bruzza on guitar, Michael Devol on bass, Paul Hoffman on mandolin, and Anders Beck on resonator guitar. For a band that lives on the road, and has built their reputation on live performance, it must have seemed like a no-brainer when the notion of releasing a series of live concerts on CD came up.

The debut, All Access Vol. 1, is a record of the band’s complete show from a November 27, 2009 concert at the Riviera Theatre in Three Rivers, MI. It’s a 2-CD set with a total of 26 tracks, most of them band originals.

Anders Beck offered a quick overview of what Greensky Bluegrass is about:

“It’s about the jams and the improvisation. Our live shows are where we are able to give our original songs a life of their own each night. Many of our songs are explored well in this latest show, as many of them stretch over the 10-15 minute mark.”

Dave Bruzza expanded a bit on that description…

“Along with the tradition of bluegrass, we all have lots of different musical influences that we bring to the table.”

You can see evidence of those statements in this track from the new CD, a song called Against The Days, which the band has agreed to let us stream here in its entirety. Enjoy.

Against The Days:     

You can hear audio samples from All Access Vol. 1 at LiveDownloads.com, where you can also purchase the double CD or individual tracks. This new release, and the future editions in this series, will be available in limited CD pressings of only 1,000 units, which can be ordered from the band’s web site.