Following stops in Greensboro NC and Baltimore, MD, bluegrass firebrand Billy Strings and his trusty band continued their fall tour with two shows at Petersen Events Center in Pittsburgh, PA.
The mid-week run kicked off on Tuesday with a show featuring a mix of jammed-out originals and classic bluegrass and jamgrass covers. The Stanley Brothers‘ “Stone Walls and Steel Bars”—perhaps a reference to Pittsburgh’s status as Steel City—appeared in the first set alongside songs by Harley “Red” Allen, John Hartford, and Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers. In the second set, Strings continued to pay homage to his predecessors from bluegrass originators Bill Monroe and Larry Sparks to late jamgrass powerhouse Jeff Austin and country legend Roy Acuff. The set also included “Escanaba”, played for the fourth time ever since debuting in Luxembourg last month.
Billy Strings – “Done Gone” > “Hello City Limits” (Harley “Red” Allen), “Fire Line” – 12/12/23
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The band returned on Wednesday ready for round two, opening with The Stanley Brothers’ “Bound to Ride” before delving into a string of original tunes. A continuous sequence of “Highway Hypnosis” > “Farewell Blues” > “Highway Hypnosis” was a highlight of set one, while “Hide and Seek”, “Wargasm”, “Love and Regret”, and other Strings compositions dotted the second set between songs by Doc Watson, Bill Emerson, Carter Stanley, and Bob Dylan.
Billy Strings – “Bound To Ride” (The Stanley Brothers), “The Fire On My Tongue” – 12/13/23
The quartet finished on a high note, gathering around a single mic for a traditional encore comprised of “Standing in the Need of Prayer” by John P. Kee, the traditional “If Your Hair’s Too Long (There’s Sin in Your Heart)”, and “Riding That Midnight Train” by Doc Watson.
Click below to view a collection of fan-shot videos from Billy Strings at Pittsburgh’s Petersen Events Center.
The tour continues tomorrow, Friday, December 15th at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza in Wilkes-Barre, PA. For more on the tour, click here, and to purchase tickets, visit Strings’ website. nugs subscribers can tune in for free livestreams of each show here.
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Billy Strings – “Enough To Leave” – 12/12/23
[Video: Jeff Etten]
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, PA | 12/12/23
Set 1: Done Gone > Hello City Limits (Harley “Red” Allen), Fire Line > Thirst Mutilator > I’m Still Here (John Hartford) [1] > Cabin Song, Stone Walls and Steel Bars (The Stanley Brothers), Away From the Mire, Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down (Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers), Long Forgotten Dream, All Fall Down (John Hartford)
Set 2: Takin’ a Slow Train (Larry Sparks), While I’m Waiting Here > Meet Me at the Creek, Love Like Me, The Streamlined Cannon Ball (Roy Acuff and His Smoky Mountain Boys), My Alice, Run Down (Jeff Austin) > Kentucky Mandolin (Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys), Enough to Leave, Dealing Despair, Escanaba, Blues Stay Away From Me (The Delmore Brothers)
Encore: Come Down the Mountain Katie Daly (Traditional)
NOTES:
1 “Last Train To Clarksville” tease (The Monkees)
Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | Petersen Events Center | Pittsburgh, PA | 12/13/23
Set 1: Bound to Ride (The Stanley Brothers), The Fire on My Tongue > Bronzeback, Taking Water > Ice Bridges, Hellbender, Señor (Tales of Yankee Power) (Bob Dylan), Highway Hypnosis > Farewell Blues > Highway Hypnosis, Nothing’s Working, Bill Cheatham (Traditional), Secrets
Set 2: Must Be Seven > My Love Comes Rolling Down (The Doc Watson Family) > Hide and Seek, The Lonesome River (Carter Stanley), Leaders > Wargasm, On the Line > Train 45 (Traditional), Love and Regret, Home of the Red Fox (Bill Emerson) > Drifter’s Escape (Bob Dylan), Everything’s the Same
Encore: Standing in the Need of Prayer (John P. Kee) [1], If Your Hair’s Too Long (There’s Sin in Your Heart) (Traditional) [1], Riding That Midnight Train (Doc Watson) [1]
NOTES:
1 Full band around single mic.
The post Stone Walls And Steel City: Billy Strings Continues Fall Tour With 2 Nights Of Picking In Pittsburgh [Photos/Videos] appeared first on L4LM.
