Pianist Holly Bowling, known for her genre-defying solo work and collaborations with Greensky Bluegrass, photographed by Jessie Bell. Photo: Jessie Bell

PARK CITY, Utah — On Friday, August 15, renowned pianist Holly Bowling will take the stage at the Park City Song Summit as a featured guest with jamgrass mainstays Greensky Bluegrass. The performance, held at the City Park Stage, promises an expansive musical journey through genre-bending improvisation, emotional connection, and deep musical interplay.

Bowling, widely known for her solo reinterpretations of Phish and Grateful Dead songs, as well as for collaborations with artists like Bob Weir, Branford Marsalis and Greensky Bluegrass, brings a distinctive style of expressive piano to every project. “I just show up with my piano and do what I do,” Bowling said. “It’s not about trying to sound like someone else. It’s about listening, having big ears, and figuring out how to add to the whole.”

For Bowling, music is less about genre and more about energy. Whether she’s playing in a 50-seat listening room or for a crowd of thousands, her approach remains grounded in emotional storytelling. “I try to tell a story with every show I play,” she said. “Even though a lot of what I do is instrumental, it’s all about creating an emotional arc and finding that connection with the crowd.”

Park City Song Summit, known for integrating conversations around mental health and music, offers a fitting backdrop for Bowling’s return to outdoor performance. During the pandemic, she created a series called The Wilderness Sessions, recording solo sets in remote national parks. One such performance in the Bonneville Salt Flats included an unscripted collaboration with nature itself—when a gust of wind triggered sounds from a zither atop her keyboard, prompting her to respond in real time. “It felt like I was improvising with the landscape,” she said.

Greensky Bluegrass will perform with guest pianist Holly Bowling at the Park City Song Summit on August 15, 2025. Photo: Tobin Voggesser

That spirit of improvisation will be on full display when she joins Greensky Bluegrass on stage. The two have collaborated regularly since 2016, including recording The Iceland Sessions, a 2023 EP captured in a remote studio in northern Iceland. “That space—surrounded by these wide open, jaw-dropping landscapes—really seeped into the music,” Bowling said. “There’s a strong parallel between that experience and playing in Park City. Places like this bring something special into the performance.”

With Friday’s show expected to draw thousands, Bowling isn’t fazed by the scale. “As long as there are people locked into that moment, taking the ride with me, it doesn’t matter if it’s 50 or 5,000,” she said. “It’s always about the connection.”

Bowling describes her role in music as one of emotional conduit. “People often tell me after shows that something I played made them cry,” she said. “That’s the highest compliment. Music helps us feel, release, remember we’re not alone.”

Her hope for the Song Summit audience is simple: “That they leave feeling better than when they walked in. That they’ve taken an emotional ride through joy, beauty, maybe a few tears—and come out lighter.”

Greensky Bluegrass featuring Holly Bowling will perform Friday, August 15, from 6:30 to 10:00 p.m. on the City Park Stage, as part of the 2025 Park City Song Summit. The evening also includes a performance from Dawes & Friends. For full lineup and schedule, visit parkcitysongsummit.com.