Billy Strings pulled out all the stops for the end of his weekend stand at the TCU Amphitheater in downtown Indianapolis Sunday night, and his fans couldn’t be more thankful for the effort. The on-again, off-again rains, the funky parking situation in downtown Indy, and all the other delays were just minor hurdles for his diehard acolytes. Strings and the rest of his crew, including Billy Failing on banjo, Jarrod Walker on the 8 string mandolin, Royal Masat, keeper of the bottom end on bass, and Alex Hargreaves, weaver of magic on his fiddle, weren’t about to let their midwest fans feel let down in the slightest. Armed with a setlist jam packed with heartfelt originals, wide-ranging covers including everyone from the usual suspects like Bill Monroe, John Hartford, and New Grass Revival all the way to Pink Floyd, the band was ready for anything.
After blasting through a set-opening “Know It All”, Strings nimbly danced with his musical partners through a one-two of the always welcome “Thirst Mutilator” on into “Cabin Song”. Taking a moment to get real, he opened up to the crowd about the occasional moments most performers face when the pre-show anxiety builds up to the level of panic attacks.
“I’m so glad I finally caught my breath. I think I was so nervous to come out here and I’m not sure why. It just happens sometimes. I get this real bad anxiety. Today it was really severe for some reason,” he told his fans. “I was, like, having a panic attack before I walked out here, but now I feel so great and I finally can breathe again. And I just thank you all so much for the vibes and letting me catch my breath for a second.”
“Its all good, you know?” he continued. “We’re all feeling s— sometimes, and we all are going through our own little trips and on our own little journeys, you know, each one of us is in our own little prison in our own mind. Or maybe its not a prison at all, it’s a big, wide-open valley. Sometimes it can feel like either. Just depends on what day of the week it is. I think I was feeling some sort of way, but I walk out here and I see all your faces and all your smiles and it f—in’ brings me back down to earth. I don’t know. I can breathe again and I thank you all so much. Just… thank you.”
It was quite an interesting display of openness and trust between an artist and his fans and their support was clearly appreciated by the now adjusted and ready to rock Strings.
Billy Strings – “Know It All”, “Thirst Mutilator” > “Cabin Song”, Billy’s Talks Anxiety – 6/11/23
Moments of emotional bonding aside, Billy was clear to do what he does arguably better than most anyone on the planet… torch his way through bluegrass tunes. Fleet fingers tore up and down the neck of his six-string before slowing down as the dramatic instrumental intro of “Heartbeat Of America” brought everything into laser-sharp focus.
Some fun traditional grass followed before a hopped-up pickin’ party on Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage”, which, though transformed, still maintained its scary edge. Shooing the rest of the band off stage so he could have a little alone time with the crowd, Strings once again slowed things down and took a moment to echo Blaze Foley in lamenting this “Cold Cold World”.
A rare mid-set switch to solo banjo further evidenced Strings’ increased ease on stage. His picking on “Dos Banjos” wasn’t nearly as speedy as his fret work but highlighted one of his more underrated qualities—versatility. The young guitarist is just as good at intent, thoughtful improvisation as he is at ripping it full speed.
The full band’s return allowed Strings to showcase his reverence for the progenitors of bluegrass with back-to-back covers of past masters Bill Monroe and Ralph Stanley on genre classics “A Good Woman’s Love” and “Think What You’ve Done”. Then it was time to throw a little love the way of John Hartford, the man who helped bring bluegrass to the mainstream with a fun “Vamp In The Middle”. Hargreaves was visibly pleased at the opportunity to shine and made the most of it. Set closers “Wargasm” and “Tennessee” ran the gamut of these influences and were fitting bookends to an emotional, wide-ranging first set.
Darkness fell and the speed increased during the second set. After “On The Line” and the Osborne Brothers’ “Ruby” came and went, Massat got an old-time jug beat going for a visit to the “Old Man In The Mill”. Following the Dillards‘ tune was another number from the Hartford catalog, a spot-on “All Fall Down”. “Whisper My Name” paid further homage to the folks who pushed bluegrass into the modern era with a powerful “Whisper My Name” by New Grass Revival.
Next up on the set-long tour of his influences, Strings gave Larry Sparks his due with a pair of his classics, “John Deere Tractor” and “I’d Like To Be A Train”, before reminding folks he could write tunes himself with a wild “Watch It Fall”. More from The Dillards in the way of “Old Home Place” flowed into some of Strings’ fiery solo work, “Hide and Seek”, before the set ended, appropriately, with one last cover, the Monroe-penned “Roll On Buddy, Roll On”.
With such a cover-laden setlist, it would have been wrong to stray from the formula in the encore. Reflecting Strings’ uncanny skill at putting together shows with themes and underlying messages, the night ended with a pair of standards, Doc Watson’s “Train That Carried My Girl Away” and a building and crashing “Black Mountain Rag”.
As the cheers went up through the sold-out crowd, the buzz was already starting. “Did we really just see that?” the dazed faces in the audience seemed to ask.
Strings and company earned their ever-growing audience through relentless touring that started in middle America and slowly spread east and west. Though the guitar firebrand is deceptively youthful, Strings has both the road dog seasoning and the wisdom that comes with it well beyond his years. With plenty of life still ahead of him, he has the potential to be one the very best ever, which makes us the lucky ones getting to witness what will likely be referred to in the future as his “Golden Age.”
Strings’ tour continues this week with two shows in Cleveland, OH. For a full list of tour dates and ticketing details, visit his website.
Billy Strings – 6/11/23 – Full Audio
[Audio: Gojira Rox]
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Billy Strings – “Red Rocking Chair” (Traditional) – 6/11/23
[Video: Ohio Grown Live Music Archive]
Billy Strings | TCU Amphitheater | Indianapolis, IN | 6.11.23
Set 1: Know It All, Thirst Mutilator > Cabin Song, Heartbeat of America, Red Rocking Chair (Traditional), Enough To Leave, Brain Damage (Pink Floyd), Cold Cold World (Blaze Foley), Dos Banjos, A Good Woman’s Love (Bill Monroe), Think Of What You’ve Done (Stanley Brothers), Vamp in the Middle (John Hartford)> Wargasm, Tennessee
Set 2: On The Line > Ruby (Osborne Brothers), Old Man at the Mill (The Dillards) > All Fall Down (John Hartford), Love Like Me, Whisper My Name (New Grass Revival), John Deere Tractor (Larry Sparks), I’d Like to Be a Train (Larry Sparks), Watch It Fall, Old Home Place (The Dillards), Hide and Seek, Roll On Buddy, Roll On (Bill Monroe)
Encore: Train That Carried My Girl From Town (Doc Watson) > Black Mountain Rag (Traditional)
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