Greensky Bluegrass returns to Denver

When Greensky Bluegrass returns to Denver Oct. 24 and 25 at the Ogden Theatre, tickets may not be that easy to come by.

The Michigan-based quintet, which sold out its four shows at Boulder’s Fox Theatre and Englewood’s Gothic Theatre last fall, has become one of the bigger draws at Telluride Bluegrass Festival the past three years and also played sold-out shows with fellow jamgrass stalwarts Railroad Earth each of the last two summers at Red Rocks.

Add to that, the band’s fifth studio release, “If Sorrows Swim,” which came out Sept. 9, debuted at No. 1 on the Billboard Bluegrass Top 100 and has stayed in the Top 5 since. Their prior 2011 release, “Handguns,” opened at No. 3.

“The past three years, it’s been really exciting to watch the crowds grow, no matter what venue we are at, whether it’s the main stage at Bonnaroo or at Red Rocks,” said guitarist Dave Bruzza, who along with the mandolin-playing Paul Hoffman is one of Greensky’s two main vocalists and lyricists. “We’ve become exposed to more and more people and people are really enjoying the music we are bringing.”

The Ogden shows will be a homecoming of sorts for Bruzza, who moved to Denver a year ago, where he now lives with his wife when not on tour. The rest of the band, with the exception of bassist Mike Devol, who now calls Oakland home, still lives in or around Kalamazoo, Mich., where Greensky came together in the early 2000s.

“Denver is a great place to call home,” said Bruzza by phone as the band was preparing for a late-September gig in Asheville, N.C. “I really love the mountains; I love the people there and the whole scene.”

That scene has been one of the major attractions to Bruzza since long before he made the move to Colorado.

“In all the years of coming to visit Denver, even when we were first starting out, all the shows we would come play, people would show up and it just seemed like a really nurturing community toward music,” he said. “I think it is wonderful that there are so many great musicians in town. When I’m home, I’ll go down to Cervantes on a Thursday and you never know who is going to be there.

“I may end up getting in a jam with Chris (Pandolfi) or Andy Hall from the Infamous Stringdusters or Vince (Herman of Leftover Salmon) or Bridget (Law of Elephant Revival). There are great musicians everywhere. I’ve been lucky enough to be asked to come play with a lot of bands when I’m home. It’s super fun. I love doing that.”

Right now, Bruzza is looking forward to spending a couple nights in his own bed as the band begins the 19-date Western leg of its fall tour that includes a night in Aspen and multi-night stops in Las Vegas and Portland, as well as San Francisco, where they will wrap things up at The Fillmore Auditorium in mid-November.

Greensky will be playing two-set shows both nights in Denver. You, Me and Apollo — a five-piece indie folk band from Fort Collins — will provide support each evening.

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