Billy Strings Picks Rochester For A Pair Of Cover Debuts

Billy Strings brought his fall tour to Rochester’s 12,428-capacity Blue Cross Arena last night. Strings and his band fit two cover debuts into the setlist for Wednesday’s show, as the quintet took on Bill Monroe’s “Ashland Breakdown” in the first set and began their encore with Blaze Foley’s “Cold Cold World.”

The guitarist, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, fiddler Alex Hargreaves, bassist Royal Masat and banjo player Billy Failing prefaced an expansive “Turmoil & Tinfoil” with a quick romp through “Old Train” to open the evening. Next came Walker’s “Running The Route” before Billy led the band through The Stanley Brothers’ “Stone Walls And Steel Bars” after Strings’ mother pointed out the group hadn’t played the song in a while through a phone call to her son earlier in the day. A pairing of Renewal cuts, “Fire Line” and “Running,” was followed by the quintet’s premiere of “Ashland Breakdown.” Pioneering bluegrass musician Bill Monroe wrote the instrumental for his 1976 LP The Weary Traveler.

Strings kept the old bluegrass tunes coming with Doc Watson’s “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town” and the traditional “Black Mountain Rag.” The tender Renewal single “Love & Regret” was up next and then the five-piece worked “Bronzeback” into “Must Be Seven” before closing last night’s first set with “In The Morning Light” and “Everything’s The Same.”

Wednesday’s second set began with “Heartbeat Of America” and Doc and Merle Watson’s arrangement of the traditional “Red Rocking Chair.” Brief runs through “Hollow Heart” and “While I’m Waiting Here” was followed by a well-jammed “Pyramid Country” that led into the band’s first take on The Beatles’ “And Your Bird Can Sing” since April. Another rare cover followed as Strings dusted off “I’ve Been All Around This World,” a traditional song last played in March. The frame came to a conclusion a few songs later with the beloved “Dust In A Baggie.”

Billy looked to the repertoire of late singer-songwriter Blaze Foley to launch last night’s encore with his first “Cold Cold World.” Strings and company sealed the night with two more songs recorded by Bill Monroe — “Roll On Buddy, Roll On” and “The Gold Rush.” The latter came as the guitarist told the crowd “Y’all could go home now if you want to, we’re just jamming. The show is pretty much over.” Next up for Billy Strings is his Nassau Coliseum debut on Friday in Uniondale, New York. A free livestream is available via nugs.net.

Stream an audience recording of last night’s show taped by Duncan Oldham below:

Watch pro-shot video from the start of the show thanks to nugs.net and fan-captured video of “And Your Bird Can Sing”:

Setlist (via BillyBase.net)

Set One: Old Train > Turmoil & Tinfoil, Running The Route, Stone Walls & Steel Bars, Fire Line > Running, Ashland Breakdown [1], The Train That Carried My Girl From Town > Black Mountain Rag, Love & Regret, Bronzeback > Must Be Seven, In The Morning Light, Everything’s The Same

Set Two: Heartbeat Of America, Red Rocking Chair [2], Hollow Heart, While I’m Waiting Here > Pyramid Country > And Your Bird Can Sing, I’ve Been All Around This World, The Fire On My Tongue > Airmail Special, Hellbender, John Deere Tractor, Tipper, Dust In A Baggie

Encore: Cold Cold World [3], Roll On Buddy, Roll On, The Gold Rush

• [1] – First Time Played (Bill Monroe)
• [2] – Doc and Merle Watson arrangement
• [3] – First Time Played (Blaze Foley)