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I like mistakes and people taking risks. We like to improvise and see where things are going to wind up. I don't think we are trying to do that, it's just our collective backgrounds have come from that world, so it comes out when we play. Our fans are accepting of that middle ground. They kind of trust us and let us do what we want to do, which is exciting to me as a musician, because we can play super fast bluegrass shows or if we want to get weird we can get weird. -Anders Beck |
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Photo by: Eric Kinnally
Dancing About Architecture
When speaking of the band's songwriting, Hoffman is very conscious of staying true to 21st century realities while still honoring their musical heritage. Carving a unique niche in this broad scene is a challenge they profoundly understand.
 Anders Beck by Eric Kinnally |
"When it comes to writing a really traditional sounding bluegrass song you're sort of limited because they are all pretty much in a basic form, which is a big part of the music and the storytelling through the generations," says Hoffman. "But, if you're writing a song with the same melody that was written for a song about being buried in the mountain and you are trying to sing about something current, say rising oil prices or property value inflation, it's a little odd. Nonetheless, I think it's important, because an oral tradition is how this music all originally started."
"Playing quote-unquote bluegrass music, it's always been a little strange to me," adds Beck. "We're generally happy. We're not that lonesome and we're not that blue, and none of our relatives worked in a coal mine. We go swimming in Lake Michigan and skiing in the winter, but we've got to sing those songs to respect that tradition. It's a generational gap of sorts, and I think that comes through in a lot of our songs."
Greensky negotiate these gaps with skill, sounding timeless without being strictly confined, current without sacrificing a compelling old-soul timbre – killer Springsteen covers and all. Eight years into their career they have evolved into a band that can seamlessly play wicked improv as well as authentically moving original songs that draw from a well of varied acoustic springs, not just bluegrass.
Although understandably hesitant to slap an easy label on themselves, sometimes just finding words to describe a musical approach is the key, moving beyond the prescribed tags to define a new parameter. Hoffman suggests the phrase "new acoustic roots" and Beck agrees.
"It's a really good way to describe it. When you try to put music into words it's always a little strange, but in five words or less you have to describe to someone what the music you play is like," offers Beck. "Bluegrass is already in our name, and we play bluegrass instruments, so we're allowed to get away with that for a little while, but I'm sure they'll be an uproar at some point with someone saying, 'Well, they're not bluegrass.' We're creating our own songs within a timeless genre of acoustic music, which is an easy way to say bluegrass without getting in too much trouble. The message we are trying to convey is that this a new take on something that's been around forever."
This is evident on Five Interstates (released September 9, 2008 on Big Blue Zoo). The record marks a definitive growth ring on the trunk of the band, not only as the first time recording with the latest lineup, but also as original songwriters, branching out beyond the breakdowns. "I think we've avoided a lot of the road song traps that are out there," Beck says. "It's easy to write clichéd songs about traveling and driving around, but that's what we've been doing for the past year so there's no way it couldn't be about that."
 Paul Hoffman by Eric Kinnally |
"We notice a lot of themes of time and distance," Hoffman adds. "It's sort of the way I'm measuring my life, with my songwriting. Many of the songs tend to have these underlying tones of how much time we spend making this living and how many miles we travel. There's a theme of carpe diem."
That traveling ribbon weaves in various shades and strengths from "Against the Days," where the instrumental shuffle moves over a soft drum skitter by Bruzza and the listener is urged to, "Raise a glass to each moment/ In a race against time," to a couple stellar Galloway tunes ("Train Junkie," co-penned with Beck, and "What's Left of the Night") to Hoffman's "The Reverend," a song whose mood speaks to the uncertainties ("Is there love enough to save us?/ Will it find us out here?") in the face of that fear. Hoffman illuminates, "I was chatting with Seth Bernard about songwriting and how our processes varied. He is an ordained minister, hence, 'A couple beers with the Reverend/ am I safe from the night?' I'm coming to terms with the lyrics every time I sing it. I suppose the song is mostly about fear. There is an underlying war theme and images of the burden, of the responsibility."
The album was recorded over five days in a cabin in Hoxeyville, Michigan with Tim Carbone (Railroad Earth) producing for the second time (he also filled that role for 2006's Tuesday Letter). Both Beck and Hoffman spoke highly of Carbone.
"For me, it's easy to trust him and his vision," Hoffman says. "To have someone listening, especially someone we trust as much as Tim, is priceless. So everything was the same [as Tuesday] – except, of course, this album has Anders on it. Same place, same high speed intense pace." That approach captures that snapping spark in the heart of Greensky's music. Striking in its immediate earthy vigor with a focus on a distant horizon expanding ahead, its quintessential asphalt thunder rumbling in a contemporary acoustic light.
Continue reading for more on Greensky Bluegrass...
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