John Mailander Guests With Billy Strings At The Bonnaroo Farm

Billy Strings and his band were joined by fiddler John Mailander at The Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee on Friday night. Mailander of Bruce Hornsby & The Noisemakers augmented the guitarist, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat and banjo player Billy Failing throughout the show, which featured the debut and a reprise of a song Walker brought to the group.

Strings and company began their first of two sets by referencing the poor weather with their second ever performance of The Stanley Brothers’ “It’s Raining Here This Morning.” The quintet then unveiled its take on “West Dakota Rose” before pairing “Know It All” and “Unwanted Love.” Next up was “Love & Regret,” which was among a handful of originals played at The Bonnaroo Farm that Billy and his band debuted during a February run at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

From there, Billy led the ensemble on Jeff Austin’s “Run Down” and Billy Haynes’ “I’ll Remember You, Love, In My Prayers.” Strings then dug in on the Widespread Panic classic “All Time Low,” which gave way to the instrumental original “Ice Bridges.” Both “Ice Bridges” and the “Wargasm” that ended the first premiered at The Cap.

Last night’s second set got underway with “Must Be Seven” from Strings’ Grammy-winning 2020 album, Home. The five musicians then paired the traditional “June Apple” and a cover of Blackfoot’s “Train, Train.” Mailander went on to star in the jam during a compact “Cassidy.” The Grateful Dead cover was followed by the title track from Home and The Stanley Brothers’ “Rank Stranger.” Billy and company closed the set with another song from Home, “Highway Hypnosis” and the Cap-debuted “Hide & Seek.” The quintet said farewell by encoring with the beloved original “Dust In A Baggie” and a “West Dakota Rose” reprise.

Watch a few videos from last night’s show below: