Performer is presenting Greensky Bluegrass and Hot Buttered Rum this Sunday, November 13 at Great American Music Hall in San Francisco. These are two of the best bluegrass/Americana groups in the country, so you won’t want to miss it.

Tickets are still available here, and this is an all ages show.

You can also win a pair of tickets by re-tweeting “I wanaa win tx @performermag” on Twitter.

We recently caught up with Greensky Bluegrass bassist/vocalist Mike Devol to talk about the show and the band’s new record.

How would you best describe Greensky Bluegrass’ sound? And what separates you from other bluegrass acts on the scene?

We like to think that Greensky has a sound all its own, unlike traditional bluegrass and unlike other newgrass acts out today. Within the band, we come from a very diverse set of influences, and I think that becomes evident in our writing, arranging, and playing. And just like any writers pull from their own experiences for the content of our songs, we do the same. So you won’t be hearing songs about the hills of Noth Carolina or the Colorado peaks. Our experiences are from the depths of six-month Midwestern winters and a life spent almost entirely on the road, so there can be a kind of raw darkness in our music that you won’t find in a song about the California coastline…

You’ve just released a new album, Handguns. Can you give us a little background on the record? How/where was it recorded? What were you hoping to achieve this time out?

Handguns was recorded in Lansing, MI during the last part of January, 2011 and released October 4. This is our first studio release since summer 2008, when Five Interstates came out. e had done our two previous records in a similar way: we went up to a cabin on the pine river in Hoxeyville, MI and converted the space into a studio. In both of these earlier projects, we also brought in Tim Carbone, violinist in Railroad Earth, to come out and act as producer.

With Handguns, we recorded in a studio, which gave us access to tons of cool processors, effects, amps, microphones, etc. and we produced it ourselves. So in the new environment we had a lot of control over the way things sounded tonally. We also recorded to analog tape, which has a sound all its own.

I think that Handguns is Greensky’s most mature release so far. The songs are great, which is a nice place to start, but I think the album makes evident our growth as a band in our ability to arrange and perform these songs. With this rcord, we wanted a release to capture what Greensky has become since our last release, a way to harness the energy of a live show while still focusing on the strength of the songs, and I think we achieved this.

Bluegrass and Americana have seen a surprising jump in popularity in recent years, especially with younger audiences. What do you attribute that to?

Bands like the Avett Brothers and Mumford and Sons have done a lot for this “Americana” genre. And the strange thing about it is that the Avett Brothers are in NO way a bluegrass band. The Avett Brothers play great indie rock songs, and they happen to play them on a banjo and an upright bass. So what I see happening is that, all of the sudden, the banjo has become fashionably acceptable, something it has never been before. Bluegrass has always existed and been supported by it’s loyal niche market. Now we’ve got 15 year old girls who are at a bluegrass/Americana-based music festivals because the Avett Brothers played a set there. Honestly, I think it’s great, just like O Brother Where Art Thou put bluegrass in the public eye, now we have these million-album selling indie banjo players out there telling teens that folk music is fashionable and cool. I hope they buy it.

You’re playing in San Francisco next week with Hot Buttered Rum. Do you know those guys well? It seems like a no-brainer to pair you both together.

We’ve known Butter for years, although we’ve never done a true tour with them for more than a show or two. We are kind of two bands within a greater family. We are all really closely tied to Railroad Earth and their fans, so I think in these markets that we play, we’ll see a lot of shared fan bases. In others, it’ll be cool to offer a taste of Greensky to Butter fans and otherwise.

It looks like you’ve got tour dates right through the end of the year. What are the band’s plans for 2012? More recording? Summer festivals?

2012: Tour. As always, this is our plan. No talk of a new album yet, but I think our fans should await the continuation of our All Access live series, which saw volumes 1 and 2 in 2010. Definitely festivals. Of the ones we are booked for already, I am allowed to announce that we’ll be at Suwanee Spring Fest in FL in March and at the Stagecoach Festival at Indio, CA in April. We are also going to Hawaii for the first time at the end of February. Really looking forward to that…

And finally, you’ve shared the stage with some of the biggest names in your genre. Is there anyone out there you haven’t collaborated with yet, who you’d like to?

Hmmmmm…. there are a lot of appealing collaborations. I’d love to work with Neil Young on an album. Don’t know how that really got into my head. And Ween. Dear Ween, come produce our next record. We love you.

photo by Jamie Van Buhler