Photo via Greensky Bluegrass Instagram

Greensky Bluegrass paid tribute to founding member of Yonder Mountain String Band and mandolinist the late-Jeff Austin, at New York City’s Pier 17 on June 24. To mark the three-year anniversary of Austin’s passing, Greensky Bluegrass along with special guest pianist Holly Bowling performed “Keep On Going” in his honor. 

Before the band began their tribute tune, dobro player Anders Beck approached the mic and preluded the performance, he offered, “Hey, three years ago today we lost a dear friend of ours, his name was Jeff Austin. And, he was a madman of a musician.” With the mention of Austin’s name, the crowd let out whoops and raised a glass in Austin’s honor. See the video below. 

Then, Beck added, “We’re gonna play you one of his tunes because we miss the guy a lot. I used to play with the Yonder Mountain String Band with Jeff a lot…” He began to trail off before offering the crowd some sound advice, “Remember to hug your friends, everybody… Hug your friends.” He concluded, “That’s what I’ve got to say about that. This one goes out to Jeff.”

After introductions, Greensky Bluegrass broke into the Yonder Mountain String Band number, “Keep On Going” led by Paul Hoffman’s refined vocals. The performance featured a striking bass solo by Mike Devol, who trailed into a jam of his own before his bandmates rejoined him. Then, Bowling took lead on the keys and played a rousing improvisation of her own. Hoffman also offered a solo before the ensemble capped the number with the final lyrics and lively strums. 

Watch Greensky Bluegrass perform “Keep On Going” in honor of Jeff Austin below.