Greensky Bluegrass Revive Covers of Phish, Billy Joel and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and Welcome Special Guests at Strings & Sol

Greensky Bluegrass, courtesy of the band.

Strings & Sol returned to Sapphire Resort & Spa in Puerto Morelos, Mexico over the weekend, bringing with it a stacked cast of the foremost performers in bluegrass. Among the many champions of traditional string music’s cutting edge to cross the festival’s four stages through the weekend were Yonder Mountain String Band, Railroad Earth, The Infamous Stringdusters, Leftover Salmon, Kitchen Dwellers, Keller Williams, Mountain Grass Unit, Lindsay Lou and, of course, 30-year fan favorites Greensky Bluegrass, whose appearances in the destination festival have been a consistent highlight since the beginning. The band’s performances in the 13th annual event held true to this high standard.

Greensky Bluegrass offered three sets through the weekend, evenly scattered across the programs of Dec. 11-13. After a show-opening performance from their musical compatriots in Yonder Mountain String Band on Thursday night, the quintet made their first appearance of the series as the festival’s night one Beach Stage headliners. In their tireless style, the band set out with a sprint through their 2014 If Sorrows Swim classic “A Letter to Seymour,” merged deftly into a medley with “In Control” – featuring guest vocals from Lindsay Lou – and “Can’t Stop Now.” After taking a beat with “Born Again,” the band launched into another exploratory passage in “Train Junkie,” which gave way to the weekend’s first surprise as the band debuted a cover of Cake’s 1998 cult classic “Never There.”

Greensky Bluegrass’s first Cake cover segued back into “Train Junkie,” followed by originals “Fixin to Ruin,” “Windshield” and “Leap Year.” The band bolstered their sound again as they launched into “Send Me Your Address From Heaven” and “Give A Shit,” both of which featured Mountain Grass Unit’s Luke Black on Guitar and Drury Anderson on Mandolin. To close out their first set, GSB pared back to their core ensemble and turned up focused takes on the classics “One More Love Song,” “Courage For The Road” and “Past My Prime.”

Greensky Bluegrass’s second set of the weekend began the performances on day two, greeting fans on the smaller Pool Gazebo with a tight hour at 2 p.m. While the intimacy of this presentation was striking on its own, the Michigan progressive bluegrass firebrands did their damnedest to make their second show special through a fistful of rarities. This focus was clear as soon as they set things off with Billy Joel’s 52nd Street classic “Big Shot,” covered for the first time since Jan. 2023 and 21st time to date. Further fan service followed shortly after with Phish’s “Chalkdust Torture,” reworked for the string ensemble for the first time since December 2023 and the 23rd time to date. Alongside more frequent and recent covers of Willie Nelson, the Grateful Dead, the Rolling Stones, John Prine, Bob Marley and Bob Dylan, the band slotted in one more surprise with The Wood Brothers’ “Luckiest Man,” revived after a prior staging in August 2023.

For their third and final performance of Strings & Sol 2025, Greensky Bluegrass served as the penultimate Beach Stage act on Saturday night, between an opening frame from Keller Williams’ DeadPettyGrass and Leftover Salmon. Greensky Bluegrass dashed into another action-packed set with their 2016 Shouted, Written Down & Quoted hit “Take Cover,” followed by “White Freight Liner Blue” and a segued pairing of “Wish I Didn’t Know” and “Bone Digger.” A mix of other setlist staples like “The Radio Blues,” “Kerosene,” “Reasons to Stay” and “Breathe Reprise” ensued, and the group brought on their debut cover of Merle Haggard’s “If We Make It Through December” at the set’s midpoint. For one final surprise, the band closed out their last Strings & Sol with their fourth all-time cover of Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Fishing in the Dark” and first since November 2023.

After a long year of touring, Greensky Bluegrass will return to the stage in 2026 with a Jan. 30 performance in Ann Arbor, Mich.’s Ann Arbor Folk Fest. Find tickets and more information on the band’s full live itinerary at greenskybluegrass.com.

Learn more about Strings & Sol at stringsandsol.com.