Billy Strings Takes Fans ‘Away From The Shire’ With 1st of 3 ‘Lord Of The Rings’ Themed Halloween Concerts

Billy Strings launched his “Away From The Shire” Lord Of The Rings themed Halloween weekend run on Saturday at ExploreAsheville.com Arena in Asheville, North Carolina. The first of three concerts loosely followed the first film in the trilogy, The Fellowship OF The Ring, complete with music from the original score by Howard Shore interspersed with LOTR-appropriate songs from Billy’s original and cover repertoire including a number of debuts in the latter category.

Against a backdrop of images of The Shire, the concert began with music from the score playing over the PA. Strings then read the narration from the film recounting the history of the Rings Of Power and the One Ring and introducing Gollum. At that point, the villainous and yet beloved character came bounding across the stage played by Rushad Eggleston. Guitarist Billy Strings and mandolinist Jarrod Walker then emerged dressed as hobbits, with Billy as Frodo, playing “The Shire” theme from the film, which is very much influenced by Celtic music as is bluegrass making it a perfect fit for the musicians.

Soon, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves emerged along with flutist Ahn Phung all dressed for the occasion as the band continued “The Shire” theme. Finally, bassist Royal Masat arrived dressed as the wizard Gandalf. Royal and Billy then did the bit about wizards never being late before launching into a more grassified version of “The Shire” with Strings reeling off a magical solo and Phung enchanting on the flute. Failing then dove into a phased out banjo solo before the band surged into The Dillards’ bluegrass standard “Old Home Place,” with Billy adding a Shire lyric change.

Phung then departed as the Strings offered his own “Home” before the flutist returned for a rendition of “Happy Birthday To You” for Bilbo Baggins — Fellowship begins with Bilbo’s birthday party — and stayed on for the debut of the LOTR score’s “Flaming Red Hair.” “Secrets,” off Strings 2021 album Renewal, came next ahead of LOTR author J.R.R. Tolkien’s “The Road Goes Ever On” recited by Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit with music from Howard Shore in the film. Billy’s namesake of the theme “Away From The Mire,” was then performed as “Away From The Shire.” Bill Monroe’s “Travelin’ That Old Lonesome Road” followed before Strings’ “Hide & Seek” kicked off a four-song set-closing sequence incorporating two instrumental pieces from the film, “The Council Of Elrond” and “The Ring Goes South,” before returning to “Hide & Seek” to seal the set.

Gollum (Rushad Eggleston) returned to kick off the second set with a thrashy solo piece for cello and kazoo, “Gollum’s Nasty, Nasty.” The band then emerged for a pair of classic rock covers — The Allman Brothers Band’s “Midnight Rider” and The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses” — ahead of a paring of Billy’s “Heartbeat of America” and the debut of Bob Dylan’s “All Along The Watchtower.” A “Poor Frodo Baggins” version of the traditional “Poor Ellen Smith,” referencing Frodo being stabbed by the Lord of the Nazgûl on Weathertop, came next ahead of the premiere of Gordon Lightfoot-written, Tony Rice covered “Whispers Of The North.”

Phung then returned for the original “Love & Regret” before leaving the band to debut Ola Belle Reed’s “High On A Mountain,” with Failing singing lead. Next up was the Renewal instrumental “Ice Bridges,” which kicked off the Mines Of Moria portion of Fellowship, followed by “Dark As A Dungeon,” first released by Merle Travis and also covered by Willie Nelson. Gandalf (Masat) then led the Fellowship through the unveiling of the Johnny Cash/June Carter classic “Ring Of Fire” which included a jam and a nod to the famed “You Shall Not Pass” line in the film on which Gollum (Eggleston) returned on cello.

Eggleston stayed on for the debut of the trad “In The Pines,” a reference to the forest of Lothlórien in the film, home of Galadriel. The band then incorporated the movie’s “The Breaking Of The Fellowship” within “Meet Me At The Creek” (Fellowship ends with the disbanding of the Fellowship Of The Ring on the banks of the River Anduin) to close out the set. Eggleston and Phung returned with the band for a fitting “Will The Circle Be Unbroken” to cap night one of “Away From The Shire.”

Watch pro-shot video of the Fellowship intro sequence below:

“Away From The Shire” continues tonight. Livestreams are available via nugs.net.

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set 1: Gollum’s Intro, The Shire[1][2], Old Home Place[1] > Home, Happy Birthday To You[1], Flaming Red Hair[1][2], Secrets, The Roads Go Ever On[2], Away From The Mire[3] Travelin’ This Lonesome Road[4], Hide & Seek ? The Council Of Elrond[2] > The Ring Goes South[2] > Hide & Seek

Set 2: Gollum’s Nasty, Nasty[5], Midnight Rider, Wild Horses, Heartbeat Of America, All Along The Watchtower[6], Poor Ellen Smith[7], Whispers Of The North[8], Love & Regret[1], High On A Mountian[9][10] Ice Bridges, Dark As A Dungeon[11], Ring Of Fire[12][13][14], In The Pines[15][16] Meet Me At The Creek[1][16] > The Breaking Of The Fellowship[1][16] > Meet Me At The Creek[1][16]

Encore: Will The Circle Be Unbroken [1][16]

Notes:

• 1. With Ahn Phung on flute
• 2. FTP- Howard Shore
• 3. “Away From The Shire”
• 4. FTP- Bill Monroe
• 5. FTP- Rushad Eggleston (Gollum) solo on cello/kazoo
• 6. FTP- Bob Dylan
• 7. “Poor Frodo Baggins” version
• 8. FTP- Gordon Lightfoot
• 9. FTP- Ola Belle Reed
• 10. Billy Failing on lead vocals
• 11. FTP- Merle Travis
• 12. FTP- June Carter
• 13. Royal Masat on lead vocals
• 14. “You Shall Not Pass” jam intro with Rushad Eggleston on cello
• 15. FTP- Traditional
• 16. With Rushad Eggleston (Gollum) on cello