Russ Carson Joins Billy Strings For Debut & Bust Out In Chattanooga

Billy Strings wrapped a two-night stand at the 1,750-capacity Tivoli Theatre in Chattanooga to help reopen the historic venue on Wednesday. The guitarist welcomed banjo player Russ Carson for a run of songs in the first set including a Flatt and Scruggs debut.

A fitting rendition of Jimmy Martin’s “Tennessee” got the show at the intimate venue underway followed by “Lucid Daydream” off Billy’s 2026 album So Much For Goodbyes. Strings then delivered a three-song stint beginning with John Hartford’s “Vamp In The Middle” ahead of Bill Monroe’s “Southern Flavor” and original “Cabin Song” from 2024’s Highway Prayers.

Carson joined the band for the eighth song of the first set to help on a first-time play of the Flatt and Scruggs jazz standard adaptation of “Bugle Call Rag.” Written by Billy Meyers, Elmer Schoebel and Jack Pettis, the Friars Society Orchestra first released “Bugle Call Rag” in 1922. Lester Flatt and Earl Scruggs along with their band The Foggy Mountain Boys recorded a version in 1961. Carson offered smoking banjo runs and crystal clear harmonics on the tune.

The collaboration with Carson — who has held down the five-string with Ricky Skaggs since 2014 — continued with The Stanley Brothers’ “Think Of What You’ve Done,” Jimmie Skinner’s “Doin’ My Time” and The Kentucky Mountain Boys’ “Blackjack.” Billy Strings and company last played the latter on New Year’s Eve 2024. Carson stuck around for the rest of the set adding a second banjo to covers of “The Letter Edged In Black,” “Home Of The Red Fox” and “John Hardy.”

Set two kicked off with a pairing of “Malfunction Junction” and “The Fire On My Tongue.” Billy and the band — mandolinist Jarrod Walker, banjo player Billy Failing, bassist Royal Masat and fiddler Alex Hargreaves — also delivered a mostly-covers single-mic session during the second set beginning with “Richard Petty” sans Hargreaves.

The fiddler returned for a Walker-led bust-out rendition of Frank Wakefield & Buster Turner’s “Leave Well Enough Alone,” last time played on April 27, 2024, a 178-show gap. “I’m Going Back To Old Kentucky” followed, another breakout, before the band wrapped the single-mic session with “If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart.” Billy Strings sealed the show with “Heartbeat Of America” and a cover of “Streamline Cannonball.”

Livestream replays of Billy Strings’ Chattanooga concert and more shows are available via nugs.

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set One: Tennessee, Lucid Daydream, With A Vamp In The Middle, Southern Flavor, Cabin Song, Be Your Man, Miss The Mississippi And You, Bugle Call Rag [1][2], Think Of What You’ve Done [1], Doin’ My Time [1], Blackjack [1][3], The Letter Edged In Black [1], Home Of The Red Fox [1], John Hardy [1]

Set Two: Malfunction Junction, The Fire On My Tongue, St. James Hospital, This Old World, The Train That Carried My Girl From Town, Black Mountain Rag, Harbor of Love, Love Among The Tombstones, Richard Petty [4], Leave Well Enough Alone [5][6][7], I’m Going Back To Old Kentucky [5][8], If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart [5], Heartbeat Of America, Streamline Cannonball

Footnotes:

• [1] w/ Russ Carson on banjo
• [2] FTP – Flatt and Scruggs and The Foggy Mountain Boys
• [3] Last Time Played 2024-12-31 | 137 show gap
• [4] Full band (minus Alex) around single mic
• [5] Full band around single mic
• [6] Jarrod Walker on lead vocals
• [7] Last Time Played 2024-04-27 | 178 show gap
• [8] Last Time Played 2025-12-06 | 53 show gap