Billy Strings wrapped a two-night New Year’s run at UNO Lakefront Arena in New Orleans on Saturday. For the New Year’s Eve concert, the guitarist and his band delivered three sets which included two cover debuts and more.
Billy and company — mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves — kicked off their NYE show with four covers beginning with Larry Sparks’ “Slow Train” followed by Jerry Reed’s “Likes Of Me” and Chris Henry’s instrumental “West Dakota Rose.” The flurry of covers culminated in the Billy Strings debut of Willie Nelson’s “Hands on The Wheel.”
The first original of the evening came in the form of “Fire Line,” off Strings’ 2021 album Renewal, which flowed into the standard “Reuben’s Train.” Renewal’s “Love & Regret” then prefaced a bust out of the traditional “Where’s My Sailor Boy,” last time played on September 24, 2021 for a 152 show gap, as per BillyBase. A 13-minute rendition of John Hartford’s “All Fall Down” concluded the first frame.
Strings kicked off the second set by premiering a locale-appropriate Blaze Foley cover, “Rudee Down In New Orleans.” More covers followed — “Freeborn Man,” “End Of The Rainbow” and “Rank Stranger” — ahead of two more Renewal cuts, “Heartbeat Of America” and “In The Morning Light.” The traditional “John Hardy” came next before Renewal instrumental “Running The Route.” More Hartford in “With A Vamp In The Middle” proceeded Béla Fleck’s “Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The).” The favorite “Dust In A Baggie” capped the second set and marked the first non-Renewal original of the show.
Billy then went big on another older original, “Meet Me At The Creek,” which kicked off the third set and saw the countdown and balloon drop to mark the New Year. Pictures of the band and fans from 2022 also flashed across the screen. All told “MMATC” stretched to around 25 minutes. An apt “Riding That Midnight Train” from The Stanley Brothers catalog came next followed by a string of originals: “Nothing’s Working,” “Secrets,” “Bronzeback” and “Home.”
Next, “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town” carried a “Black Mountain Rag” segment ahead of originals “Love Like Me” and “ “Highway Hypnosis.” The Pearl Jam classic “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” proceeded a pairing of the Bill Emerson instrumental “Home Of The Red Fox” and the traditional “Little Maggie” to wrap up the third frame. As he did to conclude his European tour in Scotland, Nashville resident Billy Strings sealed his NYE show with Jimmy Martin’s “Tennessee.”
Check out full-show audio via G-Man below:
Setlist (via BillyBase)
Set 1: Slow Train, Likes Of Me, West Dakota Rose, Hands On the Wheel[1], Fire Line > Reuben’s Train, Love & Regret, Where Is My Sailor Boy?, All Fall Down
Set 2: Rudee Down In New Orleans[2], Freeborn Man, End Of The Rainbow, Rank Stranger, Everything’s The Same, Heartbeat Of America, In The Morning Light, John Hardy, Running The Route, With A Vamp In The Middle > Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The), Dust In A Baggie
Set 3: Meet Me At The Creek[3], Ridin’ That Midnight Train, Nothing’s Working, Secrets, Bronzeback, Home, The Train That Carried My Girl From Town, Love Like Me, Highway Hypnosis, Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town, Home Of The Red Fox, Little Maggie
Encore: Tennessee
Notes:
1. FTP- Willie Nelson
2. FTP- Blaze Foley
3. 2023 was greeted with confetti and balloons at midnight
.article-summary-wrap {
margin-top:25px;
}
.panel-article .list-posts > li {
border-style: dotted;
}
.panel-article .list-posts > li:last-of-type {
border-bottom-width:0;
}
.panel-article .list-posts .excerpt {
margin: 3px 0 0;
}
.panel-article .list-posts .btn-sm {
margin-top: 10px;
padding: 3px 10px;
}
!function ($) {
$(function(){ // document readyvar ga_event_args = {
hitType: ‘event’,
eventCategory: ‘Article Summary Shortcode’,
eventAction: ‘Show Article Summary’,
eventLabel: ‘https://www.jambase.com/article/billy-strings-2022-year-in-review’,
nonInteraction : true
};console.log( ‘JB – Analytics Event’ );
console.log( ga_event_args );try {
__gaTracker(‘send’, ga_event_args );
} catch(err){}$(document).on(‘click’, ‘.article-summary-wrap a[data-guid=”9580268f80dae50-9c72-4889-ac94-8d3e66e8735d”]’, function(e){
var ga_event_args = {
hitType: ‘event’,
eventCategory: ‘Article Summary Shortcode’,
eventAction: ‘Click Article Summary’,
eventLabel: ‘https://www.jambase.com/article/billy-strings-2022-year-in-review’
};console.log( ‘JB – Analytics Event’ );
console.log( ga_event_args );try {
__gaTracker(‘send’, ga_event_args );
} catch(err){}});
});
}(window.jQuery);
Billy’s Busy 2022: Guitarist Billy Strings Had Another Breakout Year
!function ($) {
$(function(){ // document readyvar ga_event_args = {
hitType: ‘event’,
eventCategory: ‘Article Summary Shortcode’,
eventAction: ‘Show Article Summary’,
eventLabel: ‘https://www.jambase.com/article/billy-strings-fiddlers-scotland-setlist-audio’,
nonInteraction : true
};console.log( ‘JB – Analytics Event’ );
console.log( ga_event_args );try {
__gaTracker(‘send’, ga_event_args );
} catch(err){}$(document).on(‘click’, ‘.article-summary-wrap a[data-guid=”95956553e6560db-5c58-48d9-bd42-e170d35f5742″]’, function(e){
var ga_event_args = {
hitType: ‘event’,
eventCategory: ‘Article Summary Shortcode’,
eventAction: ‘Click Article Summary’,
eventLabel: ‘https://www.jambase.com/article/billy-strings-fiddlers-scotland-setlist-audio’
};console.log( ‘JB – Analytics Event’ );
console.log( ga_event_args );try {
__gaTracker(‘send’, ga_event_args );
} catch(err){}});
});
}(window.jQuery);
Billy Strings Brings Out Local Fiddlers For European Tour Finale In Scotland
!function ($) {
$(function(){ // document readyvar ga_event_args = {
hitType: ‘event’,
eventCategory: ‘Article Summary Shortcode’,
eventAction: ‘Show Article Summary’,
eventLabel: ‘https://www.jambase.com/article/billy-strings-tour-dates-spring-2023’,
nonInteraction : true
};console.log( ‘JB – Analytics Event’ );
console.log( ga_event_args );try {
__gaTracker(‘send’, ga_event_args );
} catch(err){}$(document).on(‘click’, ‘.article-summary-wrap a[data-guid=”95704843c753ced-ce8f-491e-ad48-69240d20333b”]’, function(e){
var ga_event_args = {
hitType: ‘event’,
eventCategory: ‘Article Summary Shortcode’,
eventAction: ‘Click Article Summary’,
eventLabel: ‘https://www.jambase.com/article/billy-strings-tour-dates-spring-2023’
};console.log( ‘JB – Analytics Event’ );
console.log( ga_event_args );try {
__gaTracker(‘send’, ga_event_args );
} catch(err){}});
});
}(window.jQuery);
Billy Strings To Bring Spring Tour 2023 To Arenas & Amphitheaters
