Billy Strings‘ weekend getaway to the scenic tourist trap of Asheville, NC came to a close on Sunday with his third of three nights at the downtown ExploreAsheville.com Arena.
The Nashville guitarist made the most of his last day in the Land of the Sky a.k.a. the Sodom of the Southeast, heading downtown a wee bit early for a “surprise” sit-in with Jon Stickley Trio at local hotspot the Asheville Music Hall. Strings and Stickley go way back, with Billy previously stating that—back in his early days—whenever he would visit Asheville he would crash on Stickley’s couch. Those days are long behind Bill the Thrill now, but his artistic bromance with local staple Stickley has remained strong. Stickley also previously joined Billy onstage as Bilbo Baggins at Strings’ 2022 Away From The Shire Halloween run in Asheville.
Billy grabbed his electric guitar for his Stickley collab, joined by The Infamous Stringdusters bassist Travis Book and 14-year-old mandolin firebrand Wyatt Elliss. Though there was of course much excitement over Billy’s appearance at the 360-capacity venue, the guitarist spent most of his time onstage in the service of others, setting up Stickley and Elliss for inspired playing. The sit-in was emblematic of Billy’s management style as the leader of his band, doing everything he can to bring out the best in his collaborators.
Jon Stickley Trio w/ Billy Strings – Asheville Music Hall – Asheville, NC – 2/18/24 – Full Show
[Video: Iam AVL]
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A few hours later and 0.3 miles down Haywood Street, Billy Strings retook his place as leader of the pack as he led his bandmates Jarrod Walker, Royal Masat, Alex Hargreaves, and Billy Failing out onstage to open the show with “Gone A Long Time”. The lyrics featured an alteration to, “Heading down to Asheville, for three shows in a row,” rather than the written, “Heading south to Georgia, four shows in a row.” The substitution was just one of many shoutouts Billy gave to Asheville, gushing his love for the mountain hippie town throughout the show.
The following “While I’m Waiting Here” jam launched the band into space, with Billy coming in hot with triumphant leads. The entire band was immediately firing on all cylinders like a group that hadn’t stopped playing for two days straight. The Asheville crowd’s reverence for these masters at work was evident during the soft improvisational breakdown where you could hear a pin drop in the arena while Billy lightly dusted the air with sparing notes.
Billy Strings – “Gone A Long Time”, “While I’m Waiting Here” [Pro-Shot] – 2/18/24
Given he had just shared the stage with The Stringdusters’ bassist hours before, it was fitting that Billy dusted off “No More To Leave You Behind” for the first time since his Van Andel Scramble Halloween in Michigan last year. After breezing through “Secrets” and remarking on the circus of Asheville that has stolen his heart, Billy ripped open “Doin’ Things Right”, a song that has never lacked enthusiasm. During the breakdown, the fierce instrumental jam wound its way through a sexy bass solo from Royal Masast which steamrolled into a full-blown, Royal-sung cover of “I’ll Cry Instead”, much to the delight of the roaring crowd. After giving Royal the floor, Billy peer pressured Jarrod into taking over for a bit, goading his stoic mandolin player into a cover of Bill Monroe‘s “Kentucky Mandolin” for a bit of mandolin madness.
Keeping that mandolin momentum rolling, the gang delivered a rough and rowdy tribute to the late Jeff Austin with “Run Down” as the ten-song first set continued to chug down songs one after the other. “In The Morning Light” slowed things down a tic, and even gave a couple toward the front of the stage the opportunity to get engaged—with Billy congratulating them at the song’s conclusion.
Set one then hit its climax with “Meet Me At The Creek”, a double shot of arena rock played on acoustic instruments. The gears of Billy’s band were well-oiled at this point, with the fivesome locking into a smooth, cohesive, joint jam. Fiddler Alex Hargreaves once again took his role as the spark that set off the powder keg of improvisation, with the man with his name on the marquee bursting through for a tension-and-release vamp that continued to build and build in momentum and anticipation until he couldn’t hold off any longer and the set came to a fiery finish.
Billy Strings – “Meet Me At The Creek” – 2/18/24
[Video: Concert Club]
Ol’ reliable “Away From The Mire” kicked off Billy’s final set of the weekend, threading the fine line of the stratosphere between Earth and space. A rip-roaring, root-tooter of “New Country Blues” was the shot of adrenaline that powered the remainder of the show, flying past “A Good Woman’s Love” and a masterful pairing of “Running The Route” into “Everything’s The Same”—which of course featured the lyrical amendment to “I’m going to Asheville, I’m going to Maine.” “Someday You’ll Call My Name” brought the mood back down only for the band to execute an energetic slingshot that would catapult them through the rest of the second set.
The eerie opening of “Wargasm” embraced the darkness, with Royal’s bass buzzing through the speakers and reverberating the entire arena. Billy seemed to finally be comfortable with taking a bit of the spotlight for himself, going full Shreddy McNasty in a Black Sabbath-esque jam that was a sign of things to come. Coming out of heavy metal bedlam, the jam turned ambient before Billy kept turning, and turning, and turning until he was fully “Spinning”. The spoken-word track was a fruitful payoff to anyone who decided to wait until Sunday to wander into the psychedelic ether. Billy then made good on his earlier Sabbath stylings with “Planet Caravan”, which in turn led into a huge reprisal of “Wargasm” that sent the ExploreAsheville.com Arena screaming for more.
Once the wild hooting and hollering died down, Billy delivered a heartfelt thank you to the city of Asheville for kicking ass all weekend before a rowdy “Little Maggie” closed the set. Taking the stage one last time for the weekend, Billy turned his sights homeward and to the site of his next three-night run with “Tennessee”.
Billy Strings – “Little Maggie” (Traditional) – 2/18/24
[Video: Cocktails]
Billy Strings and his band have the week off until they resurface in Nashville for two nights at Bridgestone Arena and a Sunday spectacle at Ryman Auditorium. Tickets for all the shows are sold out, but good luck out there. So throw an index finger in the air and let me see where you’re at.
Setlist: Billy Strings | ExploreAsheville.com Arena | Asheville, NC | 2/18/24
Set One: Gone A Long Time, While I’m Waiting Here, No More To Leave You Behind (The Infamous Stringdusters), Secrets, Doin’ Things Right, I’ll Cry Instead (The Beatles) [1], Kentucky Mandolin (Bill Monroe), Run Down (Jeff Austin), In The Morning Light, Meet Me At The Creek
Set Two: Away From The Mire, New Country Blues (Drew Emmitt, Bill Nershi), A Good Woman’s Love (Cy Coben), Running The Route > Everything’s The Same, Someday You’ll Call My Name (Eddie Hill, Jean Branch), Wargasm > Spinning > Planet Caravan (Black Sabbath) > Wargasm, Little Maggie (Traditional)
Encore: Tennessee (Doyle Neikirk, Jimmy Martin) [2]
[1] Royal Masat on lead vocals
[2] “Concerning Hobbits” (Howard Shore) intro
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