Billy Strings Gives A Nod To Nirvana On Final Night Of Nashville Run
The guitarist debuted a pair of Nirvana songs on Sunday night at The Ryman Auditorium.
By Andy Kahn Feb 27, 2024 • 8:52 am PST
Guitarist Billy Strings held another guest-filled concert on Sunday at The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The show, which followed two guest-filled concerts at the nearby Bridgestone Arena, featured guitarist Molly Tuttle, mandolinist Ronnie McCoury, cellist Nathaniel Smith and drummer Jamie Dick accompanying Strings and his bandmates.
Strings, banjoist Billy Failing, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, fiddler Alex Hargreaves and bassist Royal Masat, began the show seated, with the stage adorned with candles in a similar fashion to Nirvana’s MTV Unplugged setup. Masat played electric bass throughout the evening, which started with “Fire Line,” “Reuben’s Train,” “Thirst Mutilator,” “Reuben’s Train,” “While I’m Waiting Here,” “Cold Cold World,” “Taking Water,” “Ice Bridges” and “Meet Me At The Creek.”
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The second half of the first set saw the emergence of Smith on cello and Dick on drums for “Nothing’s Working.” The pair remained for a nod to another band associated with 1990s Seattle grunge scene in the form of Alice In Chains’ “Nutshell.” The musicians then delivered “Red Rocking Chair,” ahead of McCoury taking the stage to add mandolin to Phish’s “Back On The Train.” The set ended with the guests augmenting a performance of “Down In The Hollow” as Mayor McCheese appeared onstage in reference to the song’s originators Leftover Salmon.
Set two started with “Home,” “My Alice” and “Heartbeat Of America,” ahead of the return of Smith and Dick for “Show Me The Door.” The cellist and drummer remained for grunge favorites Pearl Jam’s “Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town” and Mother Love Bone’s “Crown Of Thorns.” After a run through “Leaders,” Strings welcomed back McCoury for Widespread Panic’s “Pickin’ Up The Pieces” and Strings’ original “Highway Hypnosis.”
McCoury exited The Ryman stage before a pair of nods to Nirvana. First came Strings’ debut performance of the brooding “Something In The Way.” The set then came to an end with Strings’ first time covering “About A Girl,” which like its predecessor was part of Nirvana’s Unplugged setlist as well.
Sunday’s encore saw all of the evening’s guests, as well as guitarist Molly Tuttle, joining around a single mic at the center of The Ryman stage for a joyous “I Saw The Light” finale.
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| J.R. Tomberlin (See 6 videos) | |
| Billy Strings (See 912 videos) , Nathaniel Smith (See 6 videos) and Jamie Dick (See 6 videos) |
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Setlist (BillyBase)
Set One: Fire Line, Reuben’s Train [1], Thirst Mutilator [2], Reuben’s Train, While I’m Waiting Here, Cold Cold World, Taking Water, Ice Bridges, Meet Me At The Creek, Nothing’s Working [3], Nutshell [3], Red Rocking Chair [3], Back On The Train [3],[4], Down In The Hollow [3],[4],[5]
Set Two: Home, My Alice, Heartbeat Of America, Show Me The Door [3], Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town [3],[6], Crown Of Thorns [3], Leaders [3], Pickin’ Up The Pieces [3],[4], Highway Hypnosis [3],[4], Something In The Way [3],[7], About a Girl [3],[7]
Encore: I Saw The Light [3],[4],[8],[9]
Notes:
- [1] “Third Stone From The Sun” (Jimi Hendrix) tease
- [2] Slow intro
- [3] w/ Nate Smith on cello and Jamie Dick on drums
- [4] w/ Ronnie McCoury on mandolin
- [5] Mayor McCheese danced across the stage, a nod to Leftover Salmon who originally released this song.
- [6] Billy shared the story of winning his 4th grade talent show with this song, inspired by his mom’s love of music and Pearl Jam.
- [7] FTP – Nirvana
- [8] w/ Molly Tuttle on guitar
- [9] Full band and guests around single mic
