Mountain Grass Unit’s Luke Black Joins Billy Strings In Chattanooga

After closing his tour with guitarist Bryan Sutton and bassist Royal Masat at The Signal in Chattanooga, Tennessee, Billy Strings and his band delivered a concert at the same venue on Wednesday. The quintet welcomed Luke Black of Mountain Grass Unit for an extended sit-in to cap the concert.

Guitarist Billy Strings and company — Masat, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, banjo player Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves — kicked off the concert with a bust out, a cover of Larry Sparks’ “These Old Blues,” last time played on February 8 for a 58 show gap, according to BillyBase.

The band then turned to a track, “Seven Weeks in County,” off Billy Strings’ latest studio album, Highway Prayers before linking up staple cover “Ernest T. Grass” with original “The Fire On My Tongue.”

Billy and company then dusted off “Rock Salt & Nails.” Drawing inspiration from the J.D. Crowe and The New South version of the tune, Billy Strings last performed the song originally written by Utah Phillips on November 7, 2023 for a 140 show gap.

The first set came to a close with a pair of standout originals, “Hide and Seek” and “Must Be Seven” with the latter segueing into Bill Monroe‘s “My Sweet Blue Eyed Darling” to wrap the first frame.

Set two got underway with a Billy solo segment beginning with Highway Prayers‘ “Catch and Release” followed by a cover of the 2010 Jamey Johnson release “Lonely At The Top.” Mandolinist Jarrod Walker then joined Strings for “Feast Here Tonight (Rabbit In A Log).”

The second set continued with full band renditions of staples such as “Fire Line,” “Taking Water,” “Bronzeback” and “Highway Hypnosis.” Following the latter, Billy Strings welcomed skilled guitarist Luke Black of Mountain Grass Unit.

The collaboration began with “Hello, City Limits.” 1965 release saw Black reeling off a rapid and clean solo before trading licks with Billy in a spirited exchange. Check out a clip below:

Luke would stick around for the rest of the show including on Bill Monroe’s “Big Mon” and a big Billy Strings bust out of “Sittin’ On Top Of The World,” last time played by BS on April 13, 2023 for a 203 show gap. Original “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” a song Mountain Grass Unit covers, and finally ‘ bluegrass standard “How Mountain Girls Can Love.”

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set 1: These Old Blues¹ > Seven Weeks in County > Ernest T. Grass > The Fire On My Tongue > Rock Salt & Nails² > Seney Stretch > Slow Train > John Deere Tractor > Hide and Seek > Must Be Seven > My Sweet Blue Eyed Darling

Set 2: Catch and Release³ > Lonely At The Top³ > Feast Here Tonight (Rabbit In A Log)⁴ > Fire Line > Taking Water > Bronzeback > Be Your Man⁵ > In the Clear > Sally Johnson > Wait a Minute > My Alice > Highway Hypnosis > Hello, City Limits⁶ > Big Mon⁶’⁷ > Sitting On Top Of The World⁶’⁸ > Turmoil & Tinfoil⁶ > How Mountain Girls Can Love⁶

SETLIST NOTES

• 1. Last Time Played 2025-02-08 | 58 show gap
• 2. Last Time Played 2023-11-07 | 140 show gap
• 3. Billy Strings solo
• 4. Duet w/ Billy Strings & Jarrod Walker
• 5. “Charge” (Tommy Walker) intro
• 6. w/ Luke Black (Mountain Grass Unit) on guitar
• 7. Last Time Played 2025-02-16 | 55 show gap
• 8. Last Time Played 2023-04-13 | 203 show gap

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Billy Strings heads to Farm Aid ahead of his European Tour. Luke Black and Mountain Grass Unit are touring in the U.S. this fall. Find both bands’ itineraries and ticket info below.