Fiery Friday: Billy Strings Goes Heavy On Rarities At Koka Booth Amphitheatre

Billy Strings staged a three-night stand at Koka Booth Amphitheatre in Cary, North Carolina, last weekend. Friday’s middle show of the run featured a setlist consisting of several rarities and a new cover debut.

The first unexpected song selection arrived in the middle of Friday’s first set. Strings, banjoist Billy Failing, bassist Royal Masat, mandolinist Jarrod Walker and fiddler Alex Hargreaves pulled out Peter Rowan’s “Blue Mule,” which had gone two years since its last play.

Later in set one, Strings dialed up another obscure cover, the traditional “Maggie Walker Blues,” which made just its fourth setlist appearance and first since 2023. Strings spoke about one of his main musical influences, North Carolina native Doc Watson, prior to playing “Maggie Walker Blues,” which the late bluegrass legend recorded.

Speaking to the audience at Koka Booth Amphitheatre, Strings stated:

“We’re gonna do this little tune here that I learned from — well, a lot of tunes I do, I learned from Doc Watson, probably most of them. In fact, I hereby proclaim that it is my duty here on earth to convert every one of you to the Church of Doc Watson. Of course I’m not speaking to the native North Carolina folk here.

“But, Doc, he had these two neighbors that he would often pick with, guys by the name of Clint Howard and Fred Price. Clint was a great guitar player and singer, and Fred Price played the fiddle. And man, they sounded really good together. And I really love Clint’s singing a whole lot. Growing up hearing that stuff, man, it just… That’s real North Carolina mountain shit. So we’ll try to do this one here.”

The first set ended with a performance of The String Cheese Incident’s “Black Clouds,” which incorporated elements of “Day Tripper” by The Beatles after a fake-out “Pyramid Country” intro. The fake-out proved prescient when Strings delivered “Pyramid Country” in the second set, wrapping it around “Psycho.”

Strings went solo at the onset of the second set, leading off with “Catch and Release” from his 2024 album, Highway Prayers. Next came a solo debut offering of the traditional English folk song, “Matty Groves.”

In the middle of set two, Strings and his cohorts played the Highway Prayers cuts “Gild The Lily” (with “Scarlet Begonias” teases) and “Richard Petty.” The latter featured the band stripping their setup down to a single microphone, and they remained in the formation for Bill Monroe’s bluegrass staple, “Uncle Pen.”

After the aforementioned “Pyramid Country” into “Psycho” back into “Pyramid Country” sequence, “Little Maggie” capped the second half. One final rarity was taken off the shelf as The Delmore Brothers’ “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar,” which Strings last performed in 2021, filled the role of the evening’s encore.

Billy Strings will return to the road next month as part of Willie Nelson’s Outlaw Music Festival Tour. On-demand livestreams and official soundboard audio of Strings’ 2025 Spring Tour are available via nugs.net subscriptions. Stream soundboard audio of Friday’s rarities-filled show and audience-captured video highlights by scrolling below:

Setlist (via Billy Base)

Set One: Leaning on a Travelin’ Song, Sally Johnson, Hellbender, Heartbeat Of America, In The Morning Light, Blue Mule [1], Red Daisy, My Alice, Maggie Walker Blues [2], Likes Of Me, Black Clouds [3] [4]

Set Two: Catch and Release [5], Matty Groves [5] [6], Bronzeback, Know It All, Happy Hollow, Streamline Cannonball, Along The Road, Gild the Lily [7], Richard Petty [8], Uncle Pen [9], Long Forgotten Dream, Pyramid Country, Psycho, Pyramid Country,

Encore: Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar [10]

Notes:

• [1] – Last Time Played 2023-12-16 | 83 show gap
• [2] – Last Time Played 2023-12-29 | 82 show gap
• [3] – “Pyramid Country” fake-out intro
• [4] – “Day Tripper” (The Beatles) tease
• [5] – Billy Strings solo front of stage
• [6] – FTP – Traditional
• [7] – “Scarlet Begonias” (Grateful Dead) tease
• [8] – Full band (minus Alex) around single mic front of stage
• [9] – Full band around single mic front of stage
• [10] – Last Time Played 2021-03-25 | 387 show gap