See Billy Strings Debut Royal Masat-Sung Beatles Cover In Vermont

Billy Strings launched a two-night stand at Midway Lawn at Champlain Valley Expo in Essex Junction, Vermont near Burlington on Saturday. The concert saw bassist Royal Masat leading the way on a debut Beatles cover.

A pairing of the instrumental “Bronzeback” and “Secrets,” the latter off Billy Strings’s 2021 studio album Renewal, got the show underway followed by “Watch it Fall” and the tour debut of traditional “Way Downtown,” which appeared on Billy and his father Terry Barber’s 2022 collaborative album, Me / And / Dad. The quintet then linked up Renewal’s “Fire Line” with bluegrass staple, “Reuben’s Train.”

The band’s premiere cover of The Beatles’ “I’ll Cry Instead,” originally appearing on the Fab Four’s 1964 LP, A Hard Day’s Night, emerged from a funky jam out of “Doin’ Things Right” before Masat stepped to the mic to handle lead vocals. The groovy rendition also boasted rollicking solos from mandolinist Jarrod Walker and fiddler Alex Hargreaves.

Watch Royal captain the Billy Strings debut of “I’ll Cry Instead” below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JEkMjJCAW6g&ab

Billy Strings and company wrapped the first frame with a coupling of the Eric Von Schmidt-penned, Doc Watson-recorded “My Love Come Rolling Down” and the adventurous “Hide and Seek.” The second set began with Jimmy Martin’s 1958 release, “Sophronie.”

Additional second set highlights included banjo player Billy Failing singing lead on his song “So Many Miles” along with a trio of tour debuts including Béla Fleck’s “Slipstream,” the Jack Bonus written, Old & In The Way-covered “Hobo Song” and the traditional “Paul & Silas,” to seal the second set. The band would return to encore with the Bill Monroe bluegrass standard “Uncle Pen.”

Listen to the complete show below tapped by Mike D (VT):

Billy Strings summer tour hits Boston on Tuesday. Livestreams for that show and Billy’s remaining July headlining concerts are available for free to nugs.net subscribers.

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set 1: Bronzeback > Secrets, Watch It Fall, Way Downtown, Fire Line > Reuben’s Train, Doin’ Things Right > I’ll Cry Instead[1][2],This Heart Of Mine > Dealing Despair, Rank Stranger, Hellbender, My Love Come Rolling Down > Hide and Seek

Set 2: Sophronie, Slipstream > Red Rocking Chair, Thirst Mutilator > So Many Miles[3] > Everything’s The Same, Shady Grove, Must Be Seven > The Hobo Song, 15 Steps, How Mountain Girls Can Love, Pyramid Country, Paul & Silas

Encore: Uncle Pen

Notes:

• [1] Royal Masat on lead vocals
• [2] FTP- The Beatles
• [3] Billy Failing on lead vocals

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