Hosted once again by Greensky Bluegrass, the June 6-8 festival in the Manistee National Forest also boasts Circles Around the Sun, Lil Smokies, Rebirth Brass Band, Ghost Light, Bombino and regional stars.
Co-Heaadlining Camp Greensky: Del McCoury and David Grisman will play the June festival. (Photo/Anna Sink)
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The second installment of Camp Greensky is beginning to take shape as Hoxeyville Productions has unveiled the lineup for the sophomore festival.
Along with three nights of hosts Greensky Bluegrass, the June 6-8 fest will welcome the likes of bluegrass legends Del and Dawg — featuring the legendary Del McCoury and David Grisman — along with Stephen Marley, regional favorite and rising national star Billy Strings, Hiss Golden Messenger and many more to the Manistee National Forest near Wellston.
“Having David Grisman is truly an honor,” said Greensky’s Paul Hoffman (mandolin/vocals). “He was my first encounter with the mandolin (as an attendee) in the spring of 2000 at Hookahville and inspired me to investigate buying one. Him with Del McCoury is just two-fold the reverence to our roots. We’re really looking forward to hosting (them).”
Greensky Bluegrass (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
Also on the bill will be a handful of bands that have toured over the past year with the Kalamazoo-bred quintet. In addition to Strings, who just wrapped up two weeks on the road with the band, that includes Circles Around The Sun, Ghost Light, The Lil Smokies and Michigan-bred stars Lindsay Lou and Joshua Davis.
“Part of having the festival that we love is sort of being able to have a reunion with all the bands we’ve had out on the road,” Hoffman said. “Getting to bring them all to Michigan is cool for us to have a gathering of all those tour memories and introduce them to each other, but also, to the fans in Michigan.
“We’ve shared a lot of creative ideas with these groups all individually, so having them in the same place at the same time is a high summit of everything we’ve been through for the last year. Circles Around The Sun and Ghost Light are newer bands that Camp Greensky fans might be less familiar with and we are excited for them to gain some new fans.”
MORE SPECIAL SIT-INS AND NO OVERLAPS IN SCHEDULING
Hinting at the likelihood of more “awesome sit-ins,” such as last year’s special moments the band shared with Marco Benevento, Cris Jacobs and Phish bassist Mike Gordon, Hoffman added that the band, along with the Hoxeyville Productions team, is planning on making a few site improvements from year one after the snow melts, but that the “basic formula” of the Wellston festival will remain the same.
“Most importantly to us, that’s the ability to see it all,” he said. “There will be no overlaps on the schedule so people can be a fan of all the bands if they’d like. We didn’t invite a bunch of bands we like up to Michigan to play against each other.”
Rounding out this year’s lineup is the Rebirth Brass Band, Bombino, Dominic & Rachael Davis performing together and northern Michigan favorite Seth Bernard.
Tickets, ranging from $50-300, are on sale now online here.
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