Billy Strings Welcomes Alex Hargreaves In Houston

Billy Strings stopped by the 713 Music Hall in Houston on Thursday. The guitarist welcomed frequent collaborator fiddler Alex Hargreaves for the complete concert.

Billy and company — Hargreaves, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat and banjo player Billy Failing — got the show underway with “The Fire On My Tongue,” from the 2021 album Renewal, which he paired up with the instrumental “Bronzeback.” Next came “Hellbender” ahead of a coupling of “Dust In A Baggie” and Pink Floyd’s “Brain Damage.” “Heartbeat Of America” then proceeded Bill Monroe’s “Goodbye Old Pal.”

Next, “Love & Regret” prefaced a pair of Stanley tunes “Ralph’s Banjo Special” and “The White Dove.” The tune from the Drew Emmitt and Bill Nershi catalog, “New County Blues,” came ahead of “Long Forgotten Dream” and set closer “Mountain Dew,” the performance marked the first time Billy played the Lulu Belle & Scotty number since debuting it on June 1, 2019.

Strings linked up The Doors’ “Hyacinth House” with his composition to the Robert Hunter lyric, “Thunder” to kick off the second set. The Doc Watson-recorded “Walk On Boy” then came ahead of Danny Barnes’ “Pretty Daughter” and Renewal’s “This Old World.” A cover of George Jones’ “Life To Go” followed ahead of Billy’s “Meet Me At The Creek.” Strings closed out the set with Nelstone’s Hawaiians’ “Just Because.” Keith Allison’s “Freeborn Man” served as the encore.

Watch fan-shot video from the show below:

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set One: Fire On My Tongue > Bronzeback, Hellbender, Dust in a Baggie > Brain Damage, Heartbeat of America, Goodbye Old Pal, Love & Regret, Ralph’s Banjo Special, White Dove, New Country Blues > Long Forgotten Dream, Mountain Dew

Set Two: Hyacinth House > Thunder, Walk On Boy, Pretty Daughter, This Old World, Life to Go, Meet Me at the Creek, Just Because

Encore: Freeborn Man

Notes:

Alex Hargreaves on fiddle