Just a year ago the members of Michigan rock band Greta Van Fleet were preparing to release their debut full length album, “Anthem of a Peaceful Army,” and head out to California to perform as part of the Foo Fighters-curated Cal Jam ’18 at Glen Helen Amphitheatre in San Bernardino.

Since then, the rising quartet of twentysomethings comprised of brothers Josh (vocals), Jake (guitar) and Sam (bass) Kiszka and longtime friend and drummer Danny Wagner, scored a Grammy for best rock album, performed on “Saturday Night Live” and have been out on the road with their own headlining March of the Peaceful Army Tour.

Greta Van Fleet (pictured performing during the 2018 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at The Forum in Inglewood) will return to the area to headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

Greta Van Fleet (from left: Jake Kiszka, Josh Kiszka, Danny Wagner and Sam Kiszka) will headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Travis Shinn)

Sound The gallery will resume in seconds

Greta Van Fleet (Josh Kiszka, left, and Jake Kiszka right, pictured perorming at the 2018 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at The Forum in Inglewood) will return to the area to headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Amy Harris, Invision/AP)

Greta Van Fleet (from left: Danny Wagner, Jake Kiszka, Sam Kiszka and Josh Kiszka) will headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Travis Shinn)

Greta Van Fleet (from left: Sam Kiszka, Josh Kiszka, Jake Kiszka and Danny Wagner) will headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Travis Shinn)



Greta Van Fleet (vocalist Josh Kiszka, left and guitarist Jake Kiszka, right, pictured performing at the 2018 KROQ Almost Acoustic Christmas at the Forum in Inglewood) will return to the area to headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Nick Agro, Contributing Photographer)

Greta Van Fleet (from left: Danny Wagner, Sam Kiszka, Jake Kiszka and Josh Kiszka) will headline Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29 and FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Sept. 30 before stopping two nights at the Hollywood Palladium, Oct. 5-6, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Travis Shinn)

Though Greta Van Fleet has been in Los Angeles for the last month working out some stuff for its sophomore album in the studio, the second leg of the U.S. tour just lifted off in Kansas City and is headed back west starting with the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego on Sunday, Sept. 29, followed by a stop at FivePoint Amphitheatre in Irvine on Monday, Sept. 30. The band also has a pair of shows at the Hollywood Palladium in Los Angeles, Oct. 5-6.

“I think we’re just excited to get back out to playing shows,” guitarist Jake Kiszka said during a quick phone chat while the band was in the studio earlier this month. “Even though this break hasn’t been a break from music at all … I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

The band formed in Frankenmuth, Michigan, back in 2012 and Greta Van Fleet first drew more mainstream attention when its single “Highway Tune” was used in a commercial for a Chevy Equinox and was later featured on the TV show “Shameless.” The guys dropped their first EP, “Black Smoke Rising” in April 2017 and set out on tour with The Struts. The band’s throwback rock sound, which includes a mix of all the classic rock and blues vinyl records the brothers borrowed from their father’s collection, has drawn the quartet both praise and criticism.

However, artists such as the Foo Fighters, Bob Seger and Elton John have all come to bat for the band and Greta Van Fleet manged to scoop up a Grammy earlier this year for its second EP, “From the Fires.”

“I suppose there’s no real way to prepare yourself for something like that,” Kiszka said. “I woke up the morning of the nominations and my phone had just blown up and I just sat there on my bed like ‘Is this even real?’ I don’t know how the rest of the guys handled it on an emotional level, but I just sort of assumed we weren’t taking any of the Grammys with us so when our name was called for best rock album, I was extremely shocked and not at all prepared.”

A couple of weeks prior, the band kicked off the 2019 “Saturday Night Live” season with a live performance.

“We grew up watching all the old ‘Saturday Night Live’ episodes and Lorne Michaels, who we are huge fans of, we had this surreal moment when we left the stage and we passed him and he was shaking our hands and patting our backs,” Kiszka said. “It was so crazy and exciting. We were very honored to be a part of that sort of family and the legacy of ‘Saturday Night Live.’”

Greta Van Fleet was able to take time with its “Anthem of a Peaceful Army” record, which spawned the singles “When the Curtain Falls,” “You’re the One” and “Lover, Leaver.” The band hunkered down in a studio in Nashville to work on that release that just came out in October of last year. Kiszka said that although he and his band mates have been extremely busy since dropping that record, being back in the studio and working on new songs has felt very natural.

“We’ve had about a month off of the road and we’ve spent it recording and seeing what would happen,” he said. “We didn’t come in with any predisposed ideas of what would come of it but we had a variety of different songs and things so we knew what we wanted to accomplish but what came out of all of it was quite interesting and that makes it exciting.”

After finishing up the second leg of the U.S. tour, the band will head to Europe and then down to South America to open for Metallica.

“We do like Metallica a lot and we kind of figured that they’d be the perfect group to go down there with,” he said. “I can’t even imagine what experiences lie ahead with that venture, we just know the audiences down there are absolutely wild so I think that will be a true adventure.”

Kiszka said the band is grateful for the big-name acts that have taken Greta Van Fleet on tour and under their wing and though now the band is able to headline its own tours, they’d still drop just about everything to open up for the Rolling Stones, AC/DC or The Who.

“The Who for me, would be huge,” he said. “I’d love to open up for them. I mean, really any of them because they’re all still out there making music.”

So does Kiszka see Greta Van Fleet, all around 70 years of age, headlining and selling out the Rose Bowl in Pasadena as the Stones just did in August?

“Absolutely not,” he said with a laugh as he noted the band would have to drink lots of water and make sure to moisturize to even think of existing that long. “I wish I had the ability to premeditate something like that.”

Greta Van Fleet: March of The Peaceful Army Tour

When: 8 p.m. Monday, Sept. 30

Where: FivePoint Amphitheatre, Irvine

Tickets: $39.50-$89

Information: 800-745-3000 or LiveNation.com

Also: 8 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 29 at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre at SDSU, 5500 Campanile Dr., San Diego; $39.50-$170 at 800-745-3000 or Ticketmaster.com. 7 p.m. Oct. 5-6 at Hollywood Palladium, 6215 Sunset Blvd., Los Angeles. Tickets for the Palladium are sold out but available via resale websites like StubHub.com and Vividseats.com starting at $56.