Billy Strings launched a three-night run at the Iroquois Amphitheater in Louisville, Kentucky on Friday. The guitarist began the concert with a tribute to family friend Brad Lasco who sadly died on July 17.
Lasco was a close family friend and banjo player. He owned the Barkus Campground in Michigan where Billy and his dad Terry Barber would often play. Strings dedicated the first song, “Meet Me At The Creek,” to Brad and explained how he inspired the tune as well as “Dust In A Baggie,” which would come later. Pictures of Brad and the “Meet Me At The Creek” sign flashed across the screen behind the band as they launched into an inspired, 10-minute rendition of the track off Billy’s 2017 debut LP, Turmoil & Tinfoil.
Billy led the way through the first lyrics before swapping riffs with banjoist Billy Failing in the middle section. The jam got going in earnest with bassist Royal Masat’s steady groove offering a foundation for the soloists beginning with a smoking run from mandolinist Jarrod Walker before fiddler Alex Hargreaves took his first solo in his first complete show as a permanent member of the group after Billy and the band “proposed” to him in Baltimore earlier this month. Next up, Strings lent some of his mind-blowing wizardry to the jam beginning with a clean tone before reeling off some scorching over-driven runs. Failing offered a shimmering solo as well before the quintet built back into the final lyrics.
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Strings and company continued with a fitting rendition of Kentucky native Bill Monroe’s “I’m Going Back To Old Kentucky” in The Bluegrass State. After “Know It All” from Strings 2021 album Renewal, the quintet also played the Monroe instrumental “The Gold Rush” ahead of “Away From The Mire” off Billy’s Grammy-winning 2019 album Home. Fresh off his landmark guest spot with The String Cheese Incident at Red Rocks, Strings then offered “New Country Blues” from the catalog of SCI’s Bill Nershi and Leftover Salmon’s Drew Emmitt. A pair of Renewal songs, “Heartbeat Of America” and “Show Me The Door” followed before Billy and the band returned to Monroe with “Southern Flavor” to cap the first frame.
The second set got underway with “Hellbender” ahead of a paring of The Dillards’ “Old Man At The Mill” and John Hartford’s “All Fall Down.” Billy’s Renewal co-write with Greensky Bluegrass’ Paul Hoffman, “In The Morning Light,” came next. Strings then linked up the Eddie Noack-recorded “Psycho” with his composition to the Robert Hunter-penned “Thunder.” The aforementioned “Dust In A Baggie” counted as the penultimate song of the show ahead of the New Grass Revival-released “This Heart Of Mine” to wrap up the evening.
Watch fan-shot video of the “Meet Me At The Creek” dedicated to Brad Lasco below:
Setlist (via BillyBase)
Set One: Meet Me At The Creek[1], I’m Going Back To Old Kentucky, Know It All, The Gold Rush, Away From The Mire, New Country Blues, Heartbeat Of America, Show Me The Door, Southern Flavor
Set Two: Hellbender, Old Man At The Mill > All Fall Down, In The Morning Light, Psycho > Thunder, Dust In A Baggie, This Heart Of Mine
Notes:
[1] – Dedicated to Brad Lasco.
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