Greensky Bluegrass & Van Ghost (solo) This Sat At The Abby

Greensky Bluegrass

Van Ghost (Solo)

Sat, September 8, 2012

Doors: 8:00 pm / Show: 9:00 pm

The Abbey Pub

$15.00 - $18.00

TICKETS

This event is 21 and over

**ChiIL Live Shows will be there to shoot this Saturday after we catch Mathien's early set at Reggies at 7PM!   Can't wait to see Greensky Bluegrass tear it up at The Abby!    Icing on the cake--Van Ghost (Solo) is opening.    Check out our Van Ghost live show shots from North Coast Music Fest 2012.**

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Greensky Bluegrass

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"Greensky Bluegrass hits timeless targets with deadly accuracy while simultaneously veering off the tired and true highway."-Jambase.com 

If you're familiar with bluegrass music, then you're tuned in to some of what Greensky Bluegrass does. They're also known to throw a great party, rock n roll, and (if the critics are to be believed) they have great songs. They are unquestionably a team of friends that traverse the country making music they enjoy. What makes Greensky different than Bluegrass? Poignant rural ballads about real people? Dobro tone that Jerry (Douglas or Garcia) would love? Distortion Pedals? Grit and attitude from a whiskey soaked card game? Indeed, but that's just the tip of the iceberg.

This quintet from Michigan has been staying up late at all the coolest festivals and stopping to play your favorite clubs and theaters across America for 11 years now. Nearly 175 shows per year has prepared them for the rigorous task of continuity. Greensky Bluegrass isn't slowing down. "They're coming to your town to help you party down." Yeah. Really. Like you never thought possible.

At the start of the millenium,some of these guys met, then they met more guys. They thought Greensky was a clever name for a bluegrass band. Fast forward to 2011 when they recorded their fourth studio record, called Handguns. Among them, words like, "proud," "killer," and "damn right!" have been spoken in regards to the music of Handguns.

While they all may be accurate, we hope you'll find far more than you expected, hell - even more than we expected contained in this piece work that may well come to define one of 21st Century America's hardest working musical ensembles.

Greensky Bluegrass is Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).

Van Ghost (Solo)

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For nearly a decade Michael Harrison Berg of Van Ghost was a behind the scenes type of guy. Having poured his energy into his ventures as a concert promoter and band manager, little was left over for personal creative endeavors.

That all changed in 2007 when Berg's close friends encouraged him to revisit the acoustic guitar he put down in his younger days and asked him to perform a song at their wedding. Melding the inspiration from the many talented bands he has worked with and his own passion for music, the singer returned to his roots. He began writing songs, drawing from his life experiences, creating a heartfelt and staggeringly honest perspective. After building up a solid repertoire of folk ballads, gritty Americana tunes and classic rock laced jams, Berg assembled an all-star cast of musicians and named the project Van Ghost.

With an exquisite 6 piece band flavored with pedal steel and psychedelic guitars, an earth shattering rhythm section, and haunting guy/girl harmonies, the band played it's debut show before a packed audience at Chicago's revered Metro in January 2008. It was an auspicious beginning for one of Chicago's most promising new acts.

Following up their debut record, "Melodies For Lovers", on Split Red Records, the band headed down to Nashville, TN to begin the tracking of their next release. With 2009 Grammy award winning Producer/Engineer/Mixer, Justin Niebank at the helm the bands sound continues to develop and expand. Berg has established that he is as comfortable operating under the spotlight as he is behind the curtain. 

With Van Ghost he sets out to inspire music fans the same as other artists have inspired him - one song at a time.

ChiIL Live Shows Sunday At North Coast Music Fest #photo filled recap

 
Here are ChiIL Live Shows' Shots of Sunday at North Coast Music Festival 2012







  Sunday highlights were Chi-town's own Mathien, pictured below.

Mathien even got the "shreddy shirt boy" sighting  seal of approval!

We really dug seeing Rebirth Brass Band from New Orleans again this year (we also shot them opening for Dumpstaphunk at the after party at Bottom Lounge Sunday night).  

Official NCMF After Party Rebirth Brass Band, Dumpstaphunk, Lou Dooben, DJ RC

Even security got in on the squirt gun fun

We also checked out the vendors including the Chevy street team.   I told them I'd just won a week loan of an Inferno Orange Camaro SS and they said, "What are you doing HERE, girl?!   You should be out driving that convertible!!!!!"

We did see a number of families and kids Sunday.

More highlights were Van Ghost, Big Boi and Pretty Lights.











The Van Ghost girls, and Jennifer Hartswick (Trey Anastasio Band) in particular, just killed it with their stellar vocals and horns.   Sure there were some state of the art DJs & super stars at NCMF, but we chose to go old school and focus our lens predominantly on the musicians playing actual instruments and singing instead of the Mac/ scratch fever crew.   

 

Of course we also shot a lot of the creative, costumed crowd like this cow boy below who's out standing in his field.

 

 We wanna see a band named SLUTHAT next year.....   Whose with me?!

It was great to see familiar faces from the music industry/press world/blogosphere like Michael Berge, Michael Raspatello, Amy Ravit Korin (AKA:  Interactive Amy) and August Forte!

We hit the fest early Sunday afternoon with the plan to shoot most of Mathien's 2:30 set, then hit IndigoSky.   Unfortunately the media/photo pass SNAFU screwed up our shoot schedule again.    With no separate press entrance, I had to wait behind hundreds of festival goers to even get in, and then security gave me a hassle again about bringing in my gear.    

Year 1 we had lanyards/all access.   Year two we had a photo pit wrist band which wasn't ideal, but passable.   This year, we were approved for two media credentials, but someone had the brilliant idea that GA tickets would suffice. 

We were unable to shoot Friday at all, since security wouldn't let me in with my pro-camera gear and I had nothing to prove I really had press clearance.    I tried for over an hour to get someone on the walkie to get me in with my gear, and finally left in disgust.  I'd taken the el down and couldn't very well just ditch thousands of dollars in cameras outside the gate.   We were bummed not to catch King Khan & the Shrines,  Knife Party and STS9.

Later that night I e-mailed all my contacts on the fest production end and they assured me I had clearance to bring in a camera as press and that the gate fiasco was a mistake.   Yet we had the same issue again Sunday with security and were held up at the gate so long we missed shooting all of IndigoSky and just caught Mathian's final song after literally running across to the far side of the fest.    Grrrr.

Saturday went smoothly, aside from wasting shoot time in a mass of GA at the main gate and long lines for basics like portalets and water.  Every other major music fest we cover has a press area with free water and uncrowded toilets so press can work more efficiently.  It's a no brainer really.  Lollapalooza's press lounge is great, with a plentiful water and iced tea, private toilets, chairs for interviews, a free happy hour, swag, and more.    Unless things change for the better, this may be the last time we take the time to cover North Coast.   They seemed bent on making it as hard as possible for me to do my job and get good coverage for our readers!

Sunday I was fortunate enough to run into friends I shoot and review loads of shows for year round, who were able to escort me back stage to get some shots.    

Then I ran into one of the NCMF producers I've known for years, who FINALLY kicked me a guest wristband.    I still couldn't get any pit photos like we usually run here, but it was a big improvement over nothing.     Check out our extensive NCMF 2011 coverage where I shot pit photos from dawn to dusk every day of the fest.




That said, we'll be shooting stills again and catching Mathian's whole set at Reggies Rock Club this Saturday.   Come on out and check 'em out.   They're excellent.   Mathien's on at 7pm sharp, so come early.   ALL AGES.

Here's the scoop:

SAT SEP 08, 20126:30pm Doors/ All Ages/ $13 - $15 dos Click here for Reggies main site and more info

TRIBAL SEEDS
From San Diego, California, award-winning reggae group Tribal Seeds have become known for their spiritually driven, refreshing rock vibe they have infused with the roots style of reggae music.         

BALLYHOO!
A rock band with punk energy and pop, reggae grooves, Baltimore’s BALLYHOO! are a fun, fan-loving powerhouse. 

MATHIEN 



Till next year NCMF....

CHI, IL LIVE SHOWS ON OUR RADAR: Greensky Bluegrass at Abbey Pub 9/8

Greensky Bluegrass Perform Abbey Pub on 9/8 - Release 192g 2xLP Version of New Album, Handguns

Offer Fans Free Streaming 5-Song EP taken from New Album

3420 W. Grace St. Chicago, IL | www.abbeypub.com | with Sexfist | $15 advance & $18 doors | ages 21+ | 8:00PM | two sets

As a bonus for all, Greensky Bluegrass is giving away half of Handguns for free. This five-song Handguns EP is available on the Greensky Bluegrass website for anyone who wants to listen. 
 
Come check out Greensky Bluegrass rockin' everything from mandolin to dobro, banjo to guitar – all of them are very skilled pickers! (so much so that Sam Bush sat in with them on 2 songs at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June!).

They're touring in support of their new album, Handguns, which we'll be reviewing here at ChiIL Live Shows in the near future.   (released as a special, 192-gram double-vinyl). 

As their name might suggest, Greensky Bluegrass utilizes traditional bluegrass instruments – dobro, banjo, guitar, upright bass and mandolin. However, the music that they make is anything but reversionary and the new album, Handguns is a brave expression of what separates their original music from the rest of the bluegrass genre.

Handguns was recorded in between tours this winter as the band holed up in a studio in their home state of Michigan, committing the songs straight-to-tape on the exact recording console that originally birthed Lynyrd Skynyrd’s infamous track "Free Bird” decades earlier. Matching the warmth of the analog sound, vintage microphones were utilized alongside state-of-the-art studio equipment to create a truly blended and artful sonic experience.

Greensky has continued to gain national momentum since they won the Telluride Bluegrass Festival’s coveted Band Competition in 2006 and have been invited to play at last summer’s Northwest String Summit, Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival and NPR’s Mountain Stage, while also playing at Bonnaroo, Bumbershoot and Hardly Strictly Bluegrass. As these diverse festivals would suggest, they’re a bluegrass band but they’re not. Bluegrass doesn’t have distortion, or horns for that matter. Greensky does.

Of course, none of this happened overnight or without sacrifice. Greensky is just as much a grit of the asphalt band as they are a salt of the earth band, having played over 160 shows nationwide, every year, for the last six years.  It was by winning over folks on the band’s never-ending tour that got them where they are today – not by a label, syndicated radio play or being on the shelves at big box stores.

The motive? To be heard.  For musicians, the model has changed with satellite radio where the F word flies free and name-your-own-price record releases. One thing remains true, however: when the music is great, people will listen.

Greensky Bluegrass is Anders Beck (dobro), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo), Dave Bruzza (guitar), Mike Devol (upright bass) and Paul Hoffman (mandolin).