Billy Strings started his three-night Nashville run Friday evening with the first of a pair of sold-out shows at Bridgestone Arena, a Béla Fleck sit-in, and a setlist chock full of new tunes, classics, and more.
Friday’s show was densely packed with originals and covers illustrating Strings’ impressive familiarity with icons from Ralph Stanley and Doc Watson all the way up to more contemporary artists like John Hartford and Grateful Dead lyricist Robert Hunter, plus newer collaborations with the likes of Willie Nelson (“California Sober”), Leftover Salmon co-founder Vince Herman (“Catch And Release”), and Lindsay Lou (“Freedom”).
Strings and his band comprised of Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle) began with the strong opening trio of “Red Daisy”, “Hellbender”, and “Red Rocking Chair” followed by a cover of John Hartford’s “All Fall Down”. Then, after a jammed-out “In The Clear” came the first big sit-in of the night, Willie Nelson’s harmonica player Mickey Raphael. Raphael ratcheted up the honky-tonk vibe playing on “Blue Sky”, which featured bassist Royal Masat on lead vocals, and Strings’ collaboration with Willie, “California Sober”.
Billy Strings – “Red Daisy, Hellbender”, “Red Rocking Chair” (Traditional) – 2/23/24
Billy then played a pair of tunes, “Catch and Release” and “Crawdad Hole”, solo, and after welcoming the band back for “Hide and Seek” and “Katy Daley”, he finished off the set alone with a chilling a cappella rendition of “And Am I Born To Die”, exiting the stage to deafening cheers.
Banjo superstar Bela Fleck surprised the crowd by opening the second set solo and then welcoming Billy, who slid into a seat to beside the senior statesman for a duet on “Groundhog”.
Strings gave a heartfelt thanks to Fleck for the “validating to myself” invitation to play on his Grammy-winning My Bluegrass Heart project. Fleck remained onstage as stagehands whisked the chairs away and the rest of the band, joined the duo on Fleck’s “Boulderdash” from My Bluegrass Heart. Hargreaves did some stellar fiddle work and Failing had some captivating call and response and spot-on doubling with Fleck.
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The augmented band paid a second homage to the footlights of Broadway with George Gershwin‘s “Summertime”, following the first set’s adaptation of Irving Berlin’s “Blue Skies”. After a run-through of the traditional “John Hardy”, Raphael returned to play harmonica on “Seven Weeks in County”, fittingly making it a seven-piece band. The two guests left the stage, leaving the band to play a few tunes before gathering around a single mic for Bobby Davidson’s “If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart”. The pair returned to help finish the show as a septet the Stanley Brothers classic “Harbor Of Love” and the traditional “Freeborn Man”.
Strings’ reminded the crowd that this was just set one and he wanted everyone to get some sleep and take their vitamins before coming back to Bridgestone Arena for what’s sure to be a star studded night two as well.
Strings returns to Bridgestone Arena on Saturday night before closing the Nashville run on Sunday at the far more intimate Ryman Auditorium. Tune in to the livestream via nugs.net, and visit Strings’ website for a full list of upcoming shows.
Billy Strings With Mickey Raphael – “California Sober” – 2/23/24
[Video: MB1 Music]
Setlist: Billy Strings | Bridgestone Arena | Nashville, TN | 2/23/24
Set 1: Red Daisy, Hellbender, Red Rocking Chair (Doc and Merle version), Escanaba, All Fall Down (John Hartford), In the Clear, Blue Skies (Irving Berlin) [1], California Sober [1], Catch and Release, Crawdad Hole, Hide and Seek (Traditional), Katy Daley (Ralph Stanley), And Am I Born To Die? (Doc Watson)
Set 2: Jazz Odyssey Vol.6 (Béla Fleck) [2], Groundhog (Traditional) [3], Boulderdash (Béla Fleck) [3], Summertime (George Gershwin) [3], John Hardy (Traditional) [3], Seven Weeks in County [1][3], Cabin Song, Love Like Me, Thunder, If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart (Bobby Davidson) [4], Freedom, Harbor of Love (The Stanley Brothers) [1][3], Freeborn Man (Keith Allison) [1][3]
[1] w/ Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson & Chris Stapleton) on harmonica
[2] Béla Fleck on banjo solo intro
[3] Billy Strings on guitar w/ Béla Fleck on banjo
[4] Single mic
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