Greensky Bluegrass Makes Red Rocks Return With Andy Frasco, California Honeydrops

Anders Beck says he made the "right decision" when he joined Greensky Bluegrass in 2006. Fans of the popular bluegrass-rooted outfit would likely concur with the talented dobro player. Almost two decades after stepping on board with the group, Beck and his Greensky bandmates return to Colorado this week for their annual visit to Red Rocks, where they plan to conjure plenty of their well-appreciated jamgrass magic.

"At the time I joined Greensky, I'd been playing with the bands Broke Mountain Bluegrass and the Wayword Sons," recalls Beck. "We had come to the conclusion that the full-time touring thing wasn't going to happen with those groups, but I realized I wasn't ready to throw in the towel. So I made a list of projects that were interesting to me and that featured great songwriting and people I could spend most of the year with cruising around in a tour van. I had met the Greensky guys at festivals before and so I approached them and said, 'I think we could help each other out.' Looking back it's incredible that it worked. A lot of it is a blur, but we drove around in a van playing 200 shows a year. We were just putting in the legwork and trying to survive."

And survive they have; Greensky Bluegrass now counts itself among the top acts on the jam circuit, often playing alongside such rootsy talent as the Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Yonder Mountain String Band and the Tedeschi Trucks Band. While Beck says his group travels a little more comfortably these days, it's still the pull of the road, the call of music and the chance to perform in places such as Red Rocks that keeps them going.

"One of the reasons that something like Red Rocks is so special to us is that it's one of the premier venues in the world," Beck enthuses. "We literally grew our fan base one person at a time. We didn't have a hit on the radio or anything like that. We would just drive around and play every possible town we could. The first time we'd play somewhere, there might be fifty people and next time we played the same place, we'd have maybe 100 people in the audience. You did your best to try and knock people's socks off. It was completely organic. It's been a beautiful thing...and getting to Red Rocks, where we play multiple-night runs, is like, 'Holy shit.'

Beck, who now lives in Nashville, says Greensky currently plays about 90 to 100 shows a year and that the band's next Red Rocks run, from September 13 to 14, will mark almost twenty times that the band has played at the legendary foothills spot. The dobro ace emphasizes that he can't wait to get back on the rocks to see what the group will do in terms of improvisational fun.

"I lived in Durango and Denver for a long time," he says. "I got to watch Denver turn into the live-music capital of the country. It's because of the music fans. The people who live there value music. It's an amazing musical city and I feel very connected to it. To be in the area is always super special. When people ask me the stock question, 'What's your favorite venue?' my answer is always Red Rocks. So when we get there it's really exciting. We try to make it unique every year and introduce something new and different. At Red Rocks, you never know what you're going to do."

Support for Greensky's upcoming Red Rocks shows includes the California Honeydrops for the Friday, September 13, concert, and Andy Frasco & the U.N. for the next night. San Franciso-based Keyboardist Holly Bowling will also join GSBG in Morrison. Bowling's playing can also be heard on the Greensky album The Iceland Sessions With Holly Bowling, which was released this past spring.

"We've got two amazing groups supporting us," says Beck. "Andy [Frasco] is a special human. He is energy personified and he's also a sweet, big-hearted individual and a great songwriter. And the Honeydrops are just the sexiest band in the world. And it's gonna be great to have Holly at Red Rocks with us too. She's our sixth band member. We play about twenty-five percent of our shows with her and it's always a treat. Holly takes it to the next level."

Beck shares that playing at Red Rocks had been a goal of his since he was a child. He adds that while he doesn't live in Colorado anymore, he still considers the Centennial State his musical home.

"Our Red Rocks shows have become a thing that we all love," he says. "Playing there always elevates the band. It's hard to put into words how special Red Rocks is for us. In the jam-band world there are big shows like New Year's or Halloween, but Red Rocks is part of our lore at this point. We pull out all the stops. There's bluegrass and then there's the improvisational side of it and feels great to be a jam band like we're doing right now and we're clicking."

Greensky Bluegrass, Red Rocks Amphitheatre, 18300 West Alameda Parkway, Morrison, Friday, September 13 (with the California Honeydrops), and Saturday, September 14 (with Andy Frasco & the U.N.).