Billy Strings Brings Bluegrass To NPR’s ‘Tiny Desk Concert’
The guitarist and his bandmates focused on songs from their latest album, Highway Prayers.
By Andy Kahn Dec 10, 2025 • 7:12 am PST
Billy Strings made a recent visit to NPR to perform a Tiny Desk Concert. The live session focused on songs from Strings’ Grammy-nominated album, Highway Prayers.
“We’ve been lucky to play a lot of cool venues,” Strings said. “But this one’s different. It has that same soul to it because — I’ve seen so many amazing performances that happened right here and I kind of believe that love and spirit kind of soaks into this environment, so just standing here feels like a special thing.”
Joined by bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing, mandolinist Jarrod Walker and fiddler Alex Hargreaves, Strings went back to his 2021 album, Renewal to start the set with “Red Daisy.”
The remaining three songs appeared on 2024’s Highway Prayers, which is currently nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. Strings selected the album tracks “My Alice,” “Malfunction Junction” and “Gild the Lily.”
“I remember back in the day, submitting my audition to be on here,” Strings added. “It only took like, I don’t know, 12 more years or something.”
Watch Billy Strings’ Tiny Desk Concert below:
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