Greensky Bluegrass Goes Heavy On Guests At 10th Anniversary WinterWonderGrass Colorado

Greensky Bluegrass closed out the Main Stage at the 10th Anniversary WinterWonderGrass Colorado festival on a snowy Sunday with a full two-set show. The jamgrass quintet, one of the festival’s original headliners, welcomed four special guests over the course of their performance at the Steamboat Ski Resort in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.

The Infamous Stringdusters, WWG Colorado’s other original headliner, took the Main Stage on Friday after opening day sets from Pickin’ On The Dead, The Lone Bellow, Daniel Rodriguez, Pixie And The Partygrass Boys and more. Kyle Tuttle and John Mailander added to The ‘Dusters’ take on Bill Emerson’s “Home Of The Red Fox” and AJ Lee joined the band on the Bill Monroe-popularized “Molly & Tenbrooks.” Saturday featured performances by such acts as Leftover Salmon, Paul Cauthen and AJ Lee & Blue Summit as well as all-star ensembles WinterWonderWomen and the WWG Super Jam.

Greensky’s performance followed Sunday sets from Big Richard, The Lil Smokies, Mama Magnolia and a few additional acts with Pickin’ On The Dead taking The Soapbox stage both before and after GSBG’s final set. The Michigan-birthed five-piece played plenty of beloved favorites in Steamboat launching their concert with a first set bookended by “Burn Them” and “Kerosene.” Rapidgrass guitarist Mark Morris sat-in on the pairing of “Monument” and “Fixin To Ruin” that came ahead of the “Kerosene” that sealed the set.

Mandolinist/vocalist Paul Hoffman led his bandmates on the “Past My Prime” that got Greensky’s second set underway on Sunday. Lindsay Lou then emerged to join the band on their debut cover of Reverend Gary Davis’ “I Belong To The Band” and returned after the ensuing “A Letter To Seymour” for a collaborative “In Control.” The second set continued with double fiddle action as John Mailander (Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers) and Jake Simpson (The Lil Smokies) added to GSBG’s premiere take on the John Hartford classic “Vamp In The Middle” and fan-favorite original “Windshield.”

John Mailander stuck around for the rest of the set. Greensky Bluegrass and the fiddler jammed “What You Need” into a rare cover of “Bust A Move.” Young MC’s 1989 smash was last played by GSBG on Halloween 2011 as per Phantasy Tour — a span of 1,144 shows. “Bust A Move” bled into a set-closing “Don’t Lie.” Mailander was back on hand for the “Living Over” encore.

The WinterWonderGrass Tahoe festival returns to Olympic Valley, California March 31 – April 2. Greensky Bluegrass, Marcus King, Trampled by Turtles and The Lone Bellow are among the acts on the event’s 2023 lineup.

Setlist (via PT GSBG)

Set One: Burn Them, Take Cover, Courage for the Road, Wish I Didn’t Know > Jaywalking, Screams, Monument [1], Fixin To Ruin [1], Grow Together > Kerosene

Set Two: Past My Prime, I Belong to the Band [2,3], A Letter to Seymour, In Control [2], Vamp in the Middle [4,3,5], Windshield [4,5], What You Need [4] > Bust a Move [4,2] > Don’t Lie [4], Demons [4]

Encore: Living Over [4]

• [1] – w/ Mark Morris (guitar)
• [2] – w/ Lindsay Lou (vocals)
• [3] – first time played
• [4] – w/ John Mailander (fiddle)
• [5] – w/ Jake Simpson (fiddle)