Greensky Bluegrass’ latest album If Sorrows Swim has struck a chord in the bluegrass and country world.
The record Debuted #1 on Billboard Bluegrass Albums, #22 at Indie Albums and #127 on Billboard 200.
If Sorrows Swim also peaked at #5 and on iTunes Country charts and #37 on the overall iTunes albums chart.
Today the band embarks on a full US tour, and you can view the dates here: greenskybluegrass.com/tour.
“There’s this great duality to our band,” reflects Greensky Bluegrass mandolinist, vocalist, and songwriter Paul Hoffman. “We’re existing in a few different places at once: we’re a bluegrass band and a rock band, we’re song-driven and interested in extended improvisation.”
“We play acoustic instruments,” adds dobro player Anders Beck, “but we put on a rock’n’roll show. We play in bigger clubs and theaters, there’s a killer light show, and we’re as loud as your favorite rock band. It’s not easy to make five acoustic instruments sound like this – it’s something we’ve spent years working on.”
Watch the band’s video for “Burn Them” here:
The five members of Greensky Bluegrass have forged a defiant, powerful sound that, while rooted in classic stringband Americana, extends outwards with a fearless, exploratory zeal. The tension and release between these components – tradition and innovation, prearranged songs and improvisation, acoustic tones and electric volume – is what makes them so thrillingly dynamic, in concert and on record. “In theory,” Hoffman explains, “greensky is the complete opposite of bluegrass. So, by definition, we are contrasting everything that isn’t bluegrass with everything that is.”
