Andrew Lincoln Trades Lighting Cues For Lead Vocals At Greensky Bluegrass Summer Tour Opener

Last night, Greensky Bluegrass kicked off their summer tour with a concert at The Opera House in Toronto. A special moment took place during the second set, when lighting director/designer Andrew Lincoln celebrated his 15th anniversary with the band by singing the JGB live repertoire favorite “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.”

Andrew Lincoln started working with Greensky Bluegrass in 2011 after he told the band on Jam Cruise that he wanted to work with them and would “do anything” for the gig. Lincoln began selling merch and soon transitioned to the light board, where he’s been ever since as the unofficial sixth member of Greensky Bluegrass.

GSBG dobroist Anders Beck marked the occasion by writing a tribute to Lincoln shared on the band’s social media channels before the show on Wednesday. Read Beck’s heartfelt note below:

It’s pretty obvious how important Andrew Lincoln is to the band when you see a Greensky show… but I think it’s worth realizing that the reason that it all clicks together so well— the music and the lights and the vibe… is because we created it all together over a decade and a half!

We’ve evolved the show as a team, a family, a brotherhood… the 6 of us for 15 years.

Lincoln started out as our merch guy back when we were playing something like 200 shows a year (in a van). He actually argued with me about switching to lights because he really wanted to crush the merch game. Haha!

The first few gigs with him on lights were pretty rocky, but over time the shows transformed, the band transformed… the whole thing grew into something much bigger than bluegrass. Lincoln helped create a space for us to explore the version of music we heard in our heads.

So here we are together, 15 years after that goofy-ass kid approached us on Jamcruise and said he wants to work for our band and would “do anything”.

We’re the best version of Greensky because of that kid and that kid is one of the best Lighting Designers in the whole industry. Cheers to 15 years, Lincoln… here’s to 15 more!

-AB

Anders Beck stepped to the mic after the third song of the second set on a casual Wednesday in Toronto to introduce Andrew Lincoln. Beck said the band takes pride in surrounding themselves with great people as his bandmates vamped on “That’s What Love Will Make You Do.” He pointed out Lincoln came into GSBG’s lives 15 years ago that day to launch his tenure with them.

“The five of us just love the hell out of this guy and we’re super grateful,” Beck continued as Lincoln took the stage. “There’s a rule that if you have been with Greensky for 15 years you get to sing whatever song you want with the band.”

Andrew Lincoln was greeted by cheers from the crowd. “My dad said to me, he said ‘so you’re getting in a van with a band playing bars for zero dollars pay?'” Lincoln remembered. “And I said, ‘that’s right, that’s what I’m doing.’ And I’ll tell ya it takes loooooove to want to do that, I love these boys a whole lot. That’s what love will make me do, baby.”

Lincoln did an impressive job guiding the song originally recorded by Little Milton in 1971. Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia performed “That’s What Love Will Make You Do” nearly 200 times with his various solo projects between 1974 and 1995. GSBG has played the song 33 times dating back to 2011, the year Andrew Lincoln joined the crew. Yet, last night was Lincoln’s lead vocal debut.

Watch Greensky Bluegrass perform “That’s Wha Love Will Make You Do” with Andrew Lincoln in Toronto thanks to footage captured by Max Berde below:

Greensky Bluegrass opened the show and tour with “Fixin To Ruin,” one of many fan-favorites to make the setlist in Toronto. Others included “Past My Prime,” “Handguns” and “Worried About The Weather” in the first set, along with “Living Over,” “Out Of Control,” “Room Without A Roof” and “What’s Left Of The Night” in the closing stanza.

The five-piece fit a few additional covers into their show at The Opera House last night. Jimmy Martin’s “Hit Parade Of Love” came early in the evening with takes on Wendy Waldman’s “Can’t Stop Now” and the Traffic classic “Light Up Or Leave Me Alone” following the collaboration with Lincoln. Greensky Bluegrass punctuated the tour opener with an encore consisting of “Dustbowl Overtures” and “Burn Them.”

Tonight, the band takes the stage in their home state of Michigan for a concert at Saginaw’s Temple Theatre. Greensky Bluegrass’ summer tour continues through August 27 ahead of late-season festival plays at Billy Strings’ Ionia Freak Fair, the Earl Scruggs Music Festival in North Carolina and Unbroken Circle Music Festival in Indiana.

Setlist (via PT GSBG)

Set One: Fixin To Ruin, Wish I Didn’t Know > It’s Not Mine Anymore, Past My Prime, What You Need, Hit Parade of Love, Handguns, Old Barns, Worried About the Weather

Set Two: Entirely Mine > Living Over, In Control, That’s What Love Will Make You Do [1], Can’t Stop Now, Room Without a Roof, Solstice, What’s Left of the Night > Light Up or Leave Me Alone

Encore: Dustbowl Overtures, Burn Them

[1] – w/ Andrew Lincoln (vocals)