Winter Tour 2024: Greensky Bluegrass w/ Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel @ The Eastern

Greensky Bluegrass is a five-piece jamgrass band from Kalamazoo, MI that was formed in 2000 when Paul Hoffman, Dave Bruzza, and Michael Arlen Bont first played together and then decided to take this music venture even further. Currently, the band consists of Dave Bruzza (guitar/vocals), Michael Arlen Bont (banjo/vocals), Anders Beck (dobro), Mike Devol (bass/vocals), and Paul Hoffman (mandolin/vocals). Greensky Bluegrass has released six (6) LPs and eleven (11) live albums, their most recent LP is entitled Stress Dreams (released January 21, 2022). Greensky Bluegrass announced their Winter Tour 2024 on October 30th, 2023, with special guests Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel, Melt, Molly Tuttle, The High Hawks, and Daniel Donato’s Cosmic Country. For this tour date at The Eastern in Atlanta, Greensky Bluegrass brought Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel out to warm up the crowd.

Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel was a superb choice to start the night off at The Eastern. Duane Betts, who is a co-founding member of the Allman Betts Band and son of Allman Brothers Band member and co-founder Dickey Betts, was ready to rock the crowd with his band Palmetto Motel. Betts’ musical pedigree comes from a long line of brilliant musicians that should not be overlooked. Named after the late Duane Allman, Duane started learning how to play music at an early age and continued to hone his craft. At the age of 16, Duane performed with the Allman Brothers band on two occasions, most notably performing with them during their Woodstock ’94 music festival set.

Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel

Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel performed a soulful and passionate set that included a very special guest for two incredible songs: “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’” and “Blue Sky” (Allman Brothers Band cover). Lamar Williams, Jr., the son of Allman Brothers band member Lamar Williams, provided some extra special love by performing these two songs with Duane Betts and Palmetto Motel. Most of the songs from this evening’s set are from Duane’s latest album, Wild & Precious Life, which also features Marcus King, Derek Trucks, and Nicki Bluhm to name a few.

Check out this incredible set list from Duane Betts and Palmetto Hotel below:

· “Saints to Sinners”

· “Colors Fade”

· “Cold Dark World”

· “Don’t Keep Me Wonderin’” *

· “Stare at the Sun”

· “Blue Sky” (Allman Brothers Band cover) *

· “Waiting On A Song”

* Performed with Lamar Williams, Jr.

Head over to Duane Betts' Bandcamp page or the official Duane Betts store to show some support!

Greensky Bluegrass

After a brief intermission, Greensky Bluegrass came on stage to thunderous applause from just about a sold-out crowd at The Eastern. Starting the night with “Just to Lie” and “Hold On” back-to-back set my night off in the right direction. It was fun getting to finally see Greensky Bluegrass perform in a non-festival setting with an extended setlist with some deeper cuts. I could see smiles and people dancing all night to this set as Greensky Bluegrass gave the people what they wanted, which was a memorable evening full of their music. The vibe from this night was everything!

Check out the setlist from this evening’s performance below:

· “Just to Lie”

· “Hold On”

· “It's Not Mine Anymore”

· “Reverend”

· “Blood Sucking F(r)iends”

· “Stop That Train” (The Wailers cover)

· “Give a Shit”

· “Tarpology” > “One Slip” > “Tarpology”

· “Windshield”

· “The Four”

· “Like Reflections”

· “Reuben's Train” ([traditional] cover) > “Burn Them” > “Reuben's Train” ([traditional] cover)

· “Ashes”

· “Absence of Reason”

· “Worried About the Weather”

· “Monument”

· “Midnight Rider” (The Allman Brothers Band cover)

· “Grow Together”

Greensky Bluegrass

Head over to Greensky Bluegrass’ official store and show them some support! You can also check out my review from the 10th Annual Papa Joe’s Banjo-B-Que (2019) which featured Greensky Bluegrass as one of the main headliners for that weekend. That year was my favorite Banjo-B-Que line-up and I hope that they revive the festival this year.

You can still catch Greensky Bluegrass on their Winter Tour and other dates announced in 2024:

FEB 1, 2024

College Street Music Hall

New Haven, CT

with Melt