GREENSKY BLUEGRASS is one of the most exciting bands in today’s music scene. Like a breath of fresh air, this five-piece band plays traditional bluegrass instruments and uses them to create original songs and soundscapes that are unique and new, yet somehow feel comfortable and familiar. Though they have been likened to ‘70s era Americana acts like The Band, Greensky would prefer not to be compared to any other bands. “We really just try to make music as a group that sounds and feels right to us�, says mandolin player Paul Hoffman, later adding that “it is nice to know that other people really dig it, too.�

While “green sky� is the opposite of “blue grass“, the band insists that the name came about as more of a pun than a statement about their music. “Along with the tradition of bluegrass, we all have lots of different musical influences that we bring to the table�, says guitar player Dave Bruzza, “and we somehow wanted to reflect that in our name.� Upon witnessing the band’s live shows, this statement seems to make a little more sense. On any given night, in addition to the myriad of excellent original songs, one might hear traditional bluegrass songs with an exploratory rock and roll jam or selections from the Talking Heads, Jimi Hendrix, The Grateful Dead or Bob Marley turned bluegrass. “We are as likely to play a three minute song as we are a ten minute song on any given night�, says dobro player Anders Beck, “and I think that keeps it exciting for the audience�. Perhaps this is the reason that Greensky Bluegrass is as equally embraced by the jam-band community as it is the bluegrass/Americana community and the band’s fan base is growing so rapidly.

“Of course, this is bluegrass. So manic chops mean a lot to Greensky Bluegrass. Yet they are also masterful storytellers. Mandolinist Paul Hoffman in particular pens some true rural balladry.� -Seattle Weekly

Greensky Bluegrass is touring in support of their recently released fourth album, “Five Interstates�, which was produced by Tim Carbone of Railroad Earth. The album, their strongest to date, features twelve original tracks and one traditional bluegrass song (a nod to the deceased King of Bluegrass, Jimmy Martin) ,and showcases the band’s songwriting and playing talents in a way that is incredibly accessible to fans of many different types of music. Carbone notes on the package: “Five Interstates came together like five lives intertwined, the intersection of a lifetime frozen in precious time and preserved in a digital tableau. I’m blessed…We’re all blessed to be witness to a band ascending as true as an arrow shot to the sky.�

Since winning the 2006 Telluride Bluegrass Festival Band Contest, Greensky has been touring constantly, playing over 170 shows a year, and all the hard work is certainly paying off. Recent highlights are too many to list, but include selling out venues in many parts of the country, sharing the stage with musical heroes, getting asked to play shows with the likes of Tony Rice and Peter Rowan, Sam Bush, Yonder Mountain String Band and Railroad Earth, and being asked to play the inaugural Rothbury Festival in their home state of Michigan. “It certainly felt like an affirmation that we are doing something right�, noted bass player Mike Devol.

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

For ticketing info visit the Natalie MacMaster event page.

Imagine being a 20-year-old blues saxophonist in 1950s Mississippi.Now imagine Muddy Waters coming up to you and asking you to move to Chicago to join his band. Lucky for us, Eddie Shaw took Waters up on his offer. Fifty years later, he is a well respected blues musician in his own right. And that’s not an easy task in Chicago’s predominately guitar-and-harmonica driven blues scene.

Eddie honed his craft as a principal member of Howlin’ Wolf’s band. He served as the band’s leader after Wolf’s death in 1976. His own career really took off in the late 70s when he and some of the members of Wolf’s band re-formed under the name, Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang. Today, the band includes Eddie on sax, his son Eddie Jr. (aka Vaan) on guitar, Lafayette “Shorty� Gilbert on bass and vocals, and Tim Taylor (son of the late Eddie Taylor) on drums. Eddie has also played or worked with the likes of Eric Clapton, Ringo Starr, Otis Rush and Magic Sam. He has won several awards including the 1996 Howling Wolf Award (Chicago Blues Festival) and, most recently, the 2006 and 2007 Blues Music Award for “Instrumentalist–Horn.�

If you want to listen to some fabulous Chicago blues without having to drive to Chicago, check out Eddie Shaw and the Wolf Gang when they share the Meijer Gardens stage with George Thorogood.

For ticketing info visit the George Thorogood & The Destroyers event page.

When you hear “Bad to the Bone,� you know what’s coming. When someone asks “Who Do You Love,� the answer is obvious. It’s George Thorogood and the Destroyers. Thorogood and the boys will bring their ‘blues and boogie’ anthems to the Amphitheater again this August.

If you had the chance to see them last summer, you know their live performance is definitely no-holds-barred awesome. They play for their audience first, so you are guaranteed to rock out with music you’ve come to know and love. What makes it all the more fun is you can tell Thorogood is having just as good a time as the audience.

Considering he has been doing this for over 30 years, that’s not bad. In a recent interview with Bakersfield.com, Thorogood says, “Anyone born after 1950 who says he didn’t dream of being a rock star is lying.â€� However for him, it wasn’t his first dream. That was playing professional baseball, and he even did a stint in the semi-pros. But, as he put it, “I couldn’t hit, play or throw.â€� So apparently he moved on to dream #2. Good plan.

That dream has resulted in 16 studio albums, five live albums, some compilation albums and the respect of the music industry. Four of his albums have gone gold and in 2004 he earned Billboard’s “Best Blues Album of the Year� honor. And Thorogood doesn’t seem to have plans of stopping anytime soon—which is a good thing for his fans.

So if you’re a longtime fan or new to the Destroyer experience, “Move It On Over� to Meijer Gardens and take in one of the best shows you’ll see this year.

For ticketing info visit the George Thorogood & The Destroyers event page.

If you missed her concert at The Intersection in January, now is your chance to see Brandi Carlile. She will be performing on August 25 as part of the Outdoor Summer Concert Series.

Carlile has been gaining fans at a phenomenal rate since the release of her 2005 debut studio album. Her third album, Giving up the Ghost, was released in October and includes contributions from Elton John, Chad Smith of the Red Hot Chili Peppers, and Amy Ray of the Indigo Girls. That’s a pretty diverse and impressive group. Carlile and her band have also gained quite a following on the touring circuit, performing in Europe, the UK, the US, at Lilith Fair and Bonnaroo 2010.

Maybe you don’t recognize the name but you have probably heard the music. She vocally captured the pureness of love in her cover of Bryan Adam’s hit, “Heaven,� which received airplay on local radio stations. Carlile performed a couple of times on NPR’s World Café. In addition, her song, “Before It Breaks� was featured in the November 5, 2009 episode of ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy.

Carlile grew up listening to country music, “totally immersed in the Grand Ole Opry culture, wherein the entertainers are usually not the ones who wrote the music.� When she was 11 years old, she discovered Elton John. With that discovery, she learned that some performers do write and perform their own music, and she’s been writing her own music ever since. (Can you imagine how excited she must have been to perform a duet with Sir Elton on her recent album?) She began playing in bands in her teens, where she met Tim and Paul Hanseroth who plays guitar and bass in her band today.

For ticketing info visit the Brandi Carlile event page.

“The truth is I do put a lot of myself into my music,� says Chris Isaak of his 2009 album, Mr. Lucky. “If people out there listening feel that it’s me in these songs, that means I’m probably doing my job. At the same time, I believe anyone who’s ever fallen in love – or out of love – should be able to hear themselves in this album too.�

That’s want you can expect when the soulful voice of Chris Isaak graces the stage of the Meijer Gardens Amphitheater on July 29. Joining him on stage will be Mark Broussard.

Chris Isaak has made a name for himself both as a musician and as an actor. He taught himself to play guitar and began writing songs when he was a teenager. His debut album in 1985 earned him praise from both critics and other artists. It also earned Isaak and his band a reputation for crowd-pleasing performances. He really hit it big after David Lynch used an instrumental version of “Wicked Game� in the 1991 film Wild at Heart. An Atlanta DJ became intrigued with the song’s haunting melody and began playing the album version, which included Isaak’s vocals. The song became a hit with listeners and eventually reached number six on the Billboard pop chart in 1991.

Between writing and recording, Isaak also established himself as an actor, appearing in films such as Married to the Mob and Silence of the Lambs as well as his own musical comedy series on Showtime, The Chris Isaak Show.

But music remains his first love and he believes in working hard to give his audiences the best show possible. “Every night, we try to do a great show for people because we know they may have hired a babysitter and driven a hundred miles just to see us…we take pride in trying to live up to the respect people show us.�

For ticketing info visit the Chris Isaak event page.

Canadian-born Natalie MacMaster is considered a virtuoso Cape Breton fiddler but that shouldn’t come as a surprise. Fiddling is in her blood; her uncle is fiddle prodigy Buddy MacMaster and she is related to the late Canadian folk icon, John Allan Cameron. So it is safe to say that when she makes her second appearance at Meijer Gardens Amphitheater, the audience will be in for an incredible experience.

In case you have never heard Cape Breton fiddling, it sounds like something you would expect to hear in Lord of the Dance. MacMaster just adds some stylistic dimensions to it.

MacMaster performed her first concert at age nine and put out her first album by the time she was 16. Ten albums and 27 years later, she has earned numerous awards and distinctions as well as the respect and admiration of her peers. In fact, Yo-Yo Ma invited MacMaster to be a guest performer on his 2008 holiday album, Songs of Joy & Peace. She has also performed on stage with The Chieftains, Paul Simon, Faith Hill and Luciano Pavarotti plus on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Late Night with Conan O’Brien, and Good Morning America.

MacMaster is passionate about music as a whole and doesn’t limit herself to just Cape Breton fiddling. Her sound also encompasses jazz, pop, rock and country with splashes of flamenco, bluegrass swing, Gaelic singing, folk, new age, traditional and a little step dancing. Performing over 100 shows per year, she has garnered a reputation as one of Canada’s most captivating performers. Her commitment is not only to her music but also to her audience. She says, “I always get the sense from them that they deeply understand the unspoken essence of what I do.�

For ticketing info visit the Natalie MacMaster event page.

Since forming in the late ’90s, the musically muscular and relentlessly inventive Umphrey’s McGee has cultivated an impressive presence both live and in the studio. Lauded by critics and adored by fans, the band continues to draw in new listeners with their singular style: virtuoso playing and acrobatic tempo changes and rhythmic shifts complemented by dazzling song craft and composition, memorable hooks, anthemic guitar lines and rock solid rhythms.

Now in their second decade, Umphrey’s McGee continues to wow fans globally. The band has performed at festivals such as U.S. festivals as Bonnaroo, ROTHBURY, and Lollapalooza, have toured Europe multiple times and performed Japan’s Fuji Rock Festival.

Umphrey’s McGee is also known for their innovative approach to distributing music and building community. With the recent unveiling of Umphrey’s McGee’s all-new Stew Art Series (aka, “S2â€�) – an interactive fan experience where audience members “conductâ€� the band’s live improvisations – Umphrey’s McGee continue to offer their fiercely loyal fanbase the most innovative musical experiences available. Before their latest studio recording, Mantis, was released in January of last year, the group made the album available for pre-order in an interesting way. Fans were offered more free bonus content the more Mantis pre-orders were received; as the fans “unlockedâ€� levels of content by getting more of their friends to pre-order the album. The idea was to give the fans incentive to help spread the word about the album, and to offer a totally unique music experience. As Umphrey’s McGee’s sound evolves with every passing show, the live concerts sold on their expansive music archive site UMLive.net continue to be in high demand by their hungry fan base.

For ticketing info visit the Umphrey’s McGee event page.

Do you feel lucky? You should if you enjoy the music of Mary Chapin Carpenter.  She will be performing this summer as part of Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park’s Outdoor Summer Concert Series.

Although the singer-songwriter’s first album was released in 1987, she hit “superstar status� with her fourth album, Come On Come On. It included the hits “I Feel Lucky� and “Passionate Kisses,� sold five million copies, and earned Carpenter the 1992 and 1993 CMA Female Vocalist of the Year awards.  Her follow-up albums included songs such as “Shut Up and Kiss Me� and the quintessential wedding/anniversary song, “Grow Old Along With Me.� As we entered the new millennium, Carpenter’s music continued to reflect her “mind of her own� reputation and receive positive reviews. Many songs addressed societal issues that were important to her.  That focus makes perfect sense when you consider that Carpenter spent part of her teen years living in Washington, DC and that she received a degree in American Civilization from Brown University.

In addition to a successful recording career, Carpenter has earned her stripes as a successful songwriter. She written or co-written songs recorded by Joan Baez, Cyndi Lauper, and Trisha Yearwood. And who can forget Wynonna’s hit, “Girls with Guitars,� which reached #10 on the US Country Charts? She has also sung back-up for Dolly Parton, dueted with Shawn Colvin and performed as a member of The Four Voices with Joan Baez and the Indigo Girls.

Growing up, Mary Chapin Carpenter enjoyed playing her guitar but never planned to make a career of it. It was her father who encouraged her to perform publicly.  By 1986, she had won five Washington Area Music Awards. She continues to be a consistent favorite on the road and has toured with Lilith Fair and Concerts for a Landmine-Free World.

For ticketing info visit the Mary Chapin Carpenter event page.

Maybe you know his music or maybe you recognize him as an actor (he first appeared on the silver screen as Loretta Lynn’s father in Coal Miner’s Daughter). Either way, Levon Helm has been entertaining audiences for over five decades. He will be making his first appearance at Frederik Meijer Gardens & Sculpture Park this summer. It should be an incredible show.

Helm specializes in live, intimate shows that blend a variety of musical styles with universal stories. He is a genuine, enthusiastic and passionate performer and says that what pleases him most is that his audience is having a good time.

His father bought Levon his first guitar at nine years old and he began performing at talent shows with his sister, Linda, when he was twelve. A natural talent, at 17 he was invited by Conway Twitty to “share the stage� with Twitty and his band, The Rock Housers. By 1959, he had a recording contract as part of The Hawks, with two hits (Forty Days and Mary Lou) plus an appearance on Dick Clark’s American Bandstand. By the late 60s, the group partnered with Bob Dylan and changed their name to The Band. The Band recorded seven albums before disbanding in 1976.  Helm went on to achieve success on his own with albums like The RCO All-Stars and American Son. The Band reunited in the mid-80s and put out three more albums in the 90s.

In January 2004, Levon Helm Studio premiered the live, monthly Midnight Ramble Sessions. The guest performers read like a “whose who� of blues, folk and rock legends, including one of the last performances by blues pianist, Johnnie Johnson. In addition, the studio produced Dirt Farmer, Levon’s first solo album in 25 years, which went on to win the 2008 Grammy for Best Traditional Folk Album, and the follow-up, Electric Dirt (2009).

For ticketing info visit the Levon Helm Band event page.

Growing up in Louisiana, Buddy Guy’s father always told his children if you possess the talent, you couldn’t be denied in this world, regardless of your skin color. He must have taken that advice to heart. Since arriving in Chicago on that fateful September day in 1957, he has never looked back.

In career that spans over four decades, Buddy Guy is a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee and a five-time Grammy winner. He has also received 23 W.C. Handy Blues Awards (the most any artist has received), the Billboard Magazine Century Award for distinguished artistic achievement and the Presidential National Medal of Arts. And if that weren’t enough, Buddy Guy has been named as a major influence by some of rock’s greatest guitarists including Eric Clapton and Jimi Hendrix.

Joining the blues legend is JJ Grey and Mofro. The group exploded in popularity after an NPR feature in 2001 brought their music to more people than ever before. Their music ranges from gritty funk to juke joint romps to contemplative country soul to blistering rockers. JJ Grey is the singer and songwriter. A native of Florida, his music is reflective of the Southern storyteller. He claims among his musical influences Muddy Waters and Howlin’ Wolf. (Fun Fact: Buddy Guy was influenced by Waters and Wolf, and played with both in the early ‘60s.) JJ Grey and Mofro are known for their live shows. They have opened for the likes of BB King and Jeff Beck, and have performed at Bonnaroo and The New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. To play on the same stage as Buddy Guy can only add to their incredible sound.

This is THE show to see for blues fans.

For ticketing info visit the Buddy Guy event page.