Billy Strings Revives ‘Bye Bye Blues’ In Missoula

On Saturday, Billy Strings completed a weekend of shows in Montana with a concert at Missoula’s Adams Center. The guitarist had a few setlist surprises in store, including his first cover of “Bye Bye Blues” since 2020.

Billy Strings and bandmates bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing, mandolinist Jarrod Walker and fiddler Alex Hargreaves kicked off their Saturday night show with “Seven Weeks In Country,” one of seven songs from the guitarist’s 2024 album Highway Prayers played in Missoula. The LP’s “In The Clear,” “Richard Petty,” “Stratosphere Blues / I Believe In You,” “Seney Stretch,” “Don’t Be Calling Me (At 4am)” and “Leadfoot” were also sprinkled into Strings’ sets.

Early in the first set, Strings and company offered a rousing “Train, Train,” a Blackfoot song they hadn’t performed since February. After the “In The Morning Light” that followed, Billy worked “In The Clear” into his first “Bye Bye Blues” in over five years. While “Bye Bye Blues” was originally recorded by Fred Hamm and His Orchestra in 1925, Strings’ version was more in line with Doc Watson’s cover of the song. The guitarist’s band had never played the tune before as Billy’s only two documented prior performances came with Terry Barber on February 28, 2020 and with Don Julin, Kevin Gills and Joe Wilson on January 15, 2014 as per BillyBase.net.

The break out was followed by single-mic performances of “The Lonesome River” and “Richard Petty.” Later, Strings closed out the opening stanza with a wild “Thirst Mutilator” that gave way to “Dealing Despair” and a take on Charlie Poole & The North Carolina Ramblers’ “Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down.”

Strings and his band lit into “Fire Line” to get their second set in Missoula underway. Billy threw a tease of Tool’s “Vicarious” into the mix. The frame was highlighted by a seamless run of “My Love Come Rolling Down,” “Pyramid Country,” “Spinning,” “Planet Caravan” and “Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The).” The Michigan native hadn’t performed “Spinning” since December and Black Sabbath’s “Planet Caravan” since Ozzy Osbourne’s death.

A high-energy “Leadfoot” punctuated the second set. The band capped the night with a “Salty Dog Blues” encore. Billy Strings makes his Canadian debut tonight, August 19 with his first of two shows at Vancouver’s Commodore Ballroom. Livestreams are available for nugs All Access subscribers.

Watch additional fan-shot video from Billy Strings’ Saturday night show in Missoula below:

Official Soundboard Audio (via nugs.net)