Billy Strings and Vince Herman sit in with the band Greensky Bluegrass

Greensky Bluegrass turned a Thursday night in Grand Rapids into the unofficial opening of somebody else's festival. Playing GLC Live at 20 Monroe, the band worked through two sets and brought out Billy Strings, Vince Herman and Mark Lavengood, all three of whom were due at the Ionia Freak Fair the following day.

That festival is Strings' own, staged at the Ionia County Fairgrounds near his hometown in Michigan. He headlined and curated the two-day lineup, which also carried Greensky Bluegrass and Herman's Leftover Salmon. Lavengood was serving as the event's emcee, and he was the first guest to appear in Grand Rapids, adding dobro and vocals to "I'd Probably Kill You" during the opening set.

The second set is where the night turned. Greensky opened it with "Worried About The Weather" and "Monument", then brought Herman out for a first-ever performance of Dolly Parton's "My Tennessee Mountain Home". The cover debut came two days after Parton died in Nashville at the age of 80, and it was the first of many such tributes across the country circuit that week.

Strings then took the stage on guitar and vocals for an extended run, pairing with the band on Greensky originals "Living Over", "Solstice", "Reverend", "Broke Mountain Breakdown" and "Tied Down". Herman came back for the encore, with Strings joining as well for "Get No Better" and "My Love Will Not Change". The first is a John Hartford cover Greensky play roughly once a year; the second was written by Shawn Camp and Billy Burnette and popularised by the Del McCoury Band.

None of this was a novelty pairing. Strings has played with the progressive bluegrass band for more than a decade, and credits them with showing him how far bluegrass could be pushed past its usual boundaries. Both are Michigan acts, which is part of why the Freak Fair lineup reads like a hometown reunion.

Herman and Leftover Salmon have their own long history with both bands, and the festival bill also carried Sierra Hull, Michael Cleveland and Flamekeeper, Lindsay Lou, Full Cord and others. Livestreams of the Strings, Greensky and Leftover Salmon sets went out to nugs subscribers over the weekend.

The festival itself produced more of the same. Strings played his new album in full at Ionia, and Leftover Salmon and Lindsay Lou sang 9 To 5 for Parton on the main stage. Greensky, for their part, have added hometown Kalamazoo shows to their New Year's run.