Greensky Bluegrass rolls its winter tour into the Val Air Ballroom

The jamgrass band plays Des Moines on Wednesday, March 10, 2027, with Miles Miller opening, near the end of a 24-show run that wraps at the Ryman.

By the second week of March, Des Moines is ready for anything that feels like spring, and few bands are better at turning a winter night into a warm one than Greensky Bluegrass. The Michigan string band is bringing its 2027 winter tour to the Val Air Ballroom.

Greensky Bluegrass announced on Oct. 27 that it will play the Val Air Ballroom on Wednesday, March 10, 2027. Doors open at 6 p.m. and the show starts at 7:30 p.m., with Miles Miller opening. Tickets are available through AXS. The Val Air holds about 2,556, a big ballroom with plenty of floor for a crowd that likes to move.

The Des Moines date is part of a 24-show winter trek that JamBase reported on Oct. 27. The run opens in January in Los Angeles at The Bellwether, per The Music Universe, and closes in March at Nashville's Ryman Auditorium, with the band spending parts of January, February and March on the road. Support across the tour rotates among Magoo, Eggy, Clay Street Unit and Miles Miller; in Des Moines it's Miller.

That puts the Val Air show deep in the tour, which is usually where a band like this is at its best. Greensky has made winter touring an annual habit, with outlets including Relix and Live for Live Music covering the band's 2025 winter run and Live for Live Music tracking the support lineup for 2024. By March, the setlists have been worked over night after night, the improvised passages have found their footing, and the band tends to stretch out.

The genre tags on this show say folk, bluegrass and jamband, and all three apply. Greensky plays on acoustic string-band instruments, but the shows are built like jam-band nights, with long improvised sections and songs that rarely sound the same twice. That's why the band draws both the bluegrass faithful and the crowd that follows improvisational rock from city to city.

The Val Air suits that mix. It's a classic ballroom with a wide dance floor, and a Greensky crowd will use every inch of it. A 7:30 start on a Wednesday is friendly to anyone with work in the morning, but with doors at 6, the early arrivals will have time to settle in, grab a drink and catch Miller's opening set.

If you're the type who travels for these shows, Des Moines is an easy one to plan around: one night, one room, and a band that has had two months on the road to get loose.

Mark it down for March 10. Wear shoes you can dance in, get there for doors, and let winter be over for a few hours.

Sources: Greensky Bluegrass tickets – AXS (axs.com); JamBase: Greensky Bluegrass Sets Winter Tour With Magoo, Eggy, Clay Street Unit & Miles Miller (jambase.com); The Music Universe: Greensky Bluegrass winter tour (themusicuniverse.com); Relix: Greensky Bluegrass Plot 2025 Winter Tour (relix.com); Live for Live Music: Greensky Bluegrass winter 2025 tour dates (liveforlivemusic.com); Live for Live Music: Greensky Bluegrass 2024 winter tour support (liveforlivemusic.com); JamBase: Greensky Bluegrass at Val Air Ballroom (jambase.com)