Billy Strings deviated from the standard formula on Saturday for a show in San Diego, CA. The concert at the Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre saw the bluegrass phenom remain onstage for the entirety of the evening, forgoing a set break and instead performing a handful of songs solo.
Strings took the stage with his bandmates Royal Masat (bass), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), and Billy Failing (banjo) by his side to beckon “Katy Daley” for a sip of her good ‘ole mountain dew. What would ultimately add up to a 29-song set wove through beloved Billy originals “This Old World”, “Taking Water”, and “Running The Route” ahead of the reliable jam vehicle “Ernest T. Grass”, credited to Ronnie Bowman and Dan Tyminski.
Soon thereafter, Strings and company offered their debut of “Born To Be With You”, originally released by The Chordettes in 1956. Those who perhaps weren’t fans of the 1950s female singing group also behind “Mister Sandman” were hopefully more pleased with the following rendition of the Grateful Dead‘s “China Doll”.
The first set carried on with offerings of “Highway Hypnosis”, The Beatles‘ “And Your Bird Can Sing”, J.J. Cale‘s “Ride Me High”, and “Everything’s The Same” before Strings scaled down operations to just himself and Failing. The two shared banjo duties on “Dos Banjos” before Failing departed to leave the Grammy-winner born William Apostol on stage alone.
Related: Billy Strings Covers “Cocaine Blues” With Post Malone In Santa Ana [Photos/Videos]
After informing the crowd that there will be no set break, Strings delivered solo banjo takes on the original “Ol’ Rickard” as well as traditional numbers “Reuben’s Train” and “Crawdad Hole” prior to picking up his guitar for “Give The Fiddler A Dram”, “Whistling Rufus”, “Ragtime Annie”, and “John Henry”, finishing the solo segment with the original “Guitar Peace”.
Failing, Walker, and Masat re-entered the chat for Pink Floyd‘s “Fearless”, followed by “Love & Regret” and “Dust In A Baggie”. John Hartford‘s tale of whirly-bird-induced paranoia “All Fall Down” followed ahead of the group’s debut of Irving Berlin‘s “Blue Skies”, with vocals courtesy of Royal Masat. Billy sent out the proceeding “Black Clouds” to The String Cheese Incident‘s own Bill Nershi before “Wargasm” capped the encore-less performance.
Check out a gallery of images from Billy Strings at Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre in San Diego courtesy of photographer Peter Wallace. See below for a collection of fan-shot videos from Todd Winegar Clamper3. Billy’s tour picks back up on April 21st in Houston, TX. For tickets and a full list of dates click here.
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre | San Deigo, CA | 4/16/22
Set: Katy Daley (Eamon O’Shea), This Old World, Taking Water > Running The Route, Ernest T. Grass (Ronnie Bowman, Dan Tyminski) > Secrets, Born To Be With You (The Chordettes) [1], China Doll (Grateful Dead), Highway Hypnosis, And Your Bird Can Sing (The Beatles), Ride Me High (J.J. Cale), Everything’s The Same, Dos Banjos [2], Ol’ Rickard [3], Reuben’s Train (Traditional) [3], Crawdad Hole (Traditional) [3], Give The Fiddler A Dram (Traditional) [4] > Whistling Rufus (Kerry Mills) [4] > Ragtime Annie (Traditional) [4] > John Henry (Traditional) [4], Guitar Peace [4] > Fearless (Pink Floyd) [5], Hollow Heart, Love & Regret, Dust In A Baggie, All Fall Down (John Hartford), Blue Skies (Irving Berlin) [6], Black Clouds (The String Cheese Incident), Wargasm
[1] FTP
[2] Dos Billys
[3] Billy Strings solo on banjo
[4] Billy Strings solo on guitar
[5] Band rejoins Billy on stage
[6] FTP, Royal Masat on vocals
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