I’ve always thought bluegrass was the metal of country music, often very fast and technical.
We caught Billy by accident at the Gray Fox Bluegrass festival a few years ago. He was playing with Don Julin. I saw the last few songs of an afternoon set on the main stage and thought, “Damn! These guys are good. Who the heck are they?” He looks like he’s 15 but his voice sounds like he’s a 50 year old man from some holler up yonder. Long sleeves white shirt, black vest and short haircut. Some of the best pickin’ (both of them) I’d ever heard. We saw another set in a side tent the next night and were standing right up near the stage. Billy broke a string with his furious playing and changed it mid-song. No guitar tech or back up guitar. He did it in about 30 seconds and was right back into the jam. Don never even blinked. That set is one of highest energy bluegrass displays I’ve ever seen.
Fast forward a few months and we are in Charleston and see a bluegrass band playing. I got to talking to the mandolin player and mentioned that we had seen this guy, Don Julin, playing mandolin with Billy Strings in New York. He held up his mandolin and said, “Don made this”.
If you are into Bluegrass that can get a little off traditional, check out The Infamous Stringdusters. Everyone of those guys can play.
The Stringdusters are my favorite bluegrass band. The can jam like few others.
Tangentially related, while I’m not going to see Billy, I am going to the Jerry’s birthday jam tomorrow at Captain Fatty’s. Turns out the reason there’s been so much Dead coming through the fence is because my neighbor is playing guitar there and has been learning the set.
I’m going to be out of town or I’d join you. I hadn’t heard about this but I bet I know some of the band members and will have a lot of friends there.
Just checked. Your neighbor is a friend of mine as is the rest of the band.
Not surprised at all! It’s a small, small town, relatively speaking.
Saw BMFS in Chicagoland for two nights last month…
A FUCKING AMAZING.
He is an up and coming rock star.
He plays like he invented the guitar.
He sings like a 75 yr old blues singer from the delta.
I have tickets for Memphis where he is playing with WSP at the botanical gardens.
I also just got Bela Fleck tickets for Nashville in January.
Happy Birthday Jerry… Thanks for starting this musical mayhem!
I just watched that “White Freightliner” video for the first time yesterday…good Lord that’s so soo good. And what is that monstrous red double-magnet-looking thing she’s got on her guitar?
It’s just two c-clamps that she’s using to hold the phone that’s filming her right hand.
Unrelated: you missed a fun show. And a herd of charismatic Australian Shepherds cruising the crowd like sharks, just below table level looking for dropped food. Or not so dropped food.
Doh!
Can’t believe I didn’t guess that. I thought it was like, an alien capo or something. I just looked, tickets for the show in Indianapolis are going for a minimum of $235 apiece for a GA show.
I bought two right when they went on sale and even with the service fees it was $96 total. He’s getting pretty damn big!
We saw Billy last night in Atlantic City. Due to a snafu by Stubhub, we ended up going to the box office at the venue and got the last two general admission tickets (standing). We saved a bundle with only $6 per ticket in fees as opposed to the $33 per at Stubhub. Not to mention the higher ticket price on Stub. We paid a little over $70 vs $270(!). But I digress.
Some Deadhead types but not overwhelming so. I didn’t see more than two or three people of my vintage - 65 years old. Its nice to know the youngsters appreciate the musicianship. The show was great and his picking crazy good. The rest of the band were also top notch players. This was the third night of a three night gig and he said he wasn’t feeling so hot but it didn’t show in his playing.
I first saw him several years ago at the Gray Fox bluegrass festival and was immediately blown away. “Who is this kid?”, I thought. He had the voice of A 50 year old mountain man but looked like he didn’t even shave yet. It was Don Julin and Billy and, I think, an upright bass player. Billy broke a string and put a new one on (no second guitar or guitar tech) in what had to be record time. It was all bluegrass style with no pedals. This was all in a “side tent” while the headliners were on the main stage. He’s come a long way. If go get the chance, go see him. I can assure you, you won’t be disappointed.
Sorry so late in replying. Billy’s kinda become this “If you know, you know” sorta deal. I guess some people just can’t deal with banjos, fiddles or the traditional bluegrass format, and I may have agreed with all that before hearing songs besides “Dust In A Baggie” a couple years ago. Now that guy’s original music has a deep hold on me. The lyrics just…work for me. The guitar playing is obviously epic. His voice is mournful. I really dig it in a way I never thought I would had you asked before I had ever heard him. I’m a convert. People look at me like I’m crazy when I proselytize, lol.
I’ve been following Billy for quite a while, catching him at a couple of bluegrass festivals and then at the first Railbird Festival in 2018. That’s when I knew he was about to break out. I’ve livestreamed a few shows since then and they seemed to just get better.
Then I saw him this past Saturday night at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. I honestly just don’t have the words for how good he and his band are right now. Just the fact that they’re selling out an arena for two nights with a goddamn string band is mind-boggling, but it transcended even that. In a lifetime of concert-going, i’m not sure I’ve seen a better show. Guest spots from Derek Trucks (another of my favorite guitarists out there right now) and Noam Pikelny (Banjo monster from the Punch Brothers) didn’t hurt things.
I went from “big fan” to “sell all my shit and buy a van to follow these guys around”.
Billy is amazing. A few years back a mando picker I play with turned me on to this young kid who was traveling th midwest w/ Don Julin… Made a point of seeing him at a couple of festivals. I used to lead Meet Me at the Creek in my band.
As a rule, I find flatpack guitar my least favorite bluegrass instrument. I love Doc Watson, but never got into Tony Rice. Just seemed like “too many notes” to my ear, while I would never deny the obvious proficiency. Doc always seemed to keep closer to the melody and rhythm, which I personally prefer.
To my ear, Molly sounds more like Doc than Billy. I usually find myself really digging a song by Billy, then he goes off into that “New Grass,” jazzy, deadhead stuff, which I do not personally care for. IMO, Sam Bush often loses me in the same manner. Spent a bit of time w/ Don Julin last fall. I readily admit that he thinks of and plays music in ways I can’t even comprehend. Billy’s band is amazing - I especially love Billy Failing’s banjo!
No, never was a fan of the Dead, and I prefer my Grisman straight. No ear for jazz. Even disappointed with much of what I hear on the Goat Rodeo Sessions, even tho Edgar is pretty much of a god…
Really is great to hear the new young “traditional” music coming out. One of my faves is Hawktail.
Aw hell, who am I fooling - I really gravitate more towards oldtime than bluegrass. Fiddle and clawhammer is my sweet spot.
I feel the exact same way. The fans on Reddit joke about all the “Trustafarians” that do exactly that. Or the new dickhead brigade of “rail riders” that are aggressive about “their space” they’ve staked out up front. But it was always thus I suppose.
But yeah, amazing band. I am fortunate that I am able to go this coming Saturday, and I cannot wait given recent health circumstances in my life, I need something to make me smile and sway.
Well this is interesting timing. My friend had an extra ticket to Billy Strings concert in Atlanta. I never heard of him so listened to a few albums and liked what I heard. I’m not that much into bluegrass so I figured I’d at least just have a fun time with my friend… but instead of the 3 minute songs that were on the album, they stretched the songs to 10, 15 mins, with a bunch of people smoking weed jamming out… and I kinda hated it. I’m not into jam music, so I missed the tight 3min songs. Alas.