Watch Billy Strings Welcome Sam Bush, Mickey Raphael, Bryan Sutton & Myles Gee At Bridgestone Arena

Billy Strings continued his three-night run in Nashville on Saturday. The final night at Bridgestone Arena (the guitarist performed at the Ryman Auditorium on Sunday) saw the guest parade continuing as well — night one featured sit-ins from Béla Fleck and Mickey Raphael — with Sam Bush, Bryan Sutton, Raphael and Myles Gee getting in on the action.

The concert got underway with fiddler Alex Hargreaves and banjo player Billy Failing playing the traditional “Sally Goodin” as a pair ahead of Strings, bassist Royal Masat and mandolinist Jarrod Walker joining in before the band headed into “Secrets” off Strings’ 2021 album, Renewal.

The first guest spot came in the form of guitarist Bryan Sutton who joined the quintet for an extended sit-in beginning on “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town.” Sutton stayed on board for more covers including the trad “Black Mountain Rag,” the Doc Watson-covered “Ready For The Times To Get Better” and Stanley Brothers’ bluegrass standard “How Mountain Girls Can Love.”

Billy then went solo for the Jamey Johnson release “Lonely at the Top” and original “Be Your Man.” The first set came to a close with a debut of Waylon Jennings’ “Waymore’s Blues,” which featured talented young guitarist Myles Gee singing lead. Watch the performance and rehearsal footage below:

Set two launched with a three-song sequence of “Wargasm,” Bill Monroe’s “Southern Flavor” and “Dust In A Baggie.” Harmonica player Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson, Chris Stapleton) then joined in for “Hands on the Wheel,” which appears on Willie’s landmark 1975 album, Red Headed Stranger. Mickey also added harp to the bluegrass standard, “Old Home Place.”

Kentucky native Sam Bush then emerged with his mandolin for a fitting “Eight More Miles To Louisville” by Grandpa Jones. Bryan Sutton then returned to add guitar to John Hartford’s “With A Vamp in the Middle,” which headed into the David Grisman arrangement of “E.M.D. (Eat My Dust)” and also saw the return of Raphael.

While Sutton and Raphael would depart, Bush stayed on to lead the band through “Whisper My Name,” a song from his group New Grass Revival. The quintet would go it alone for second set closer, “Turmoil & Tinfoil.” All the previous guests would join Billy and the band for the encore, the Doc Watson-recorded traditional, “Mama Don’t Allow.”

Setlist (BillyBase)

Set 1: Sally Goodin[1] > Secrets, Away From The Mire, Living Like An Animal, Long Forgotten Dream, The Train That Carried My Girl From Town[2], Black Mountain Rag[2], Ready For The Times To Get Better[2], The Fire On My Tongue[2], How Mountain Girls Can Love[2], Lonely At The Top[3], Be Your Man[3], Waymore’s Blues[4][5]

Set 2: Wargasm > Southern Flavor > Dust In A Baggie, Hands On the Wheel[6], Old Home Place[6], Eight More Miles To Louisville[7] > With A Vamp In The Middle[8] > E.M.D. (Eat My Dust)[9], Whisper My Name[7], Turmoil & Tinfoil

Encore: Mama Don’t Allow[10]

Notes:

• [1] Song started by Alex Hargreaves and Billy Failing with the rest of the band joining in after a couple of minutes.
• [2] w/ Bryan Sutton on guitar
• [3] Billy Strings solo
• [4] Billy Strings w/ Myles Gee on guitar and lead vocals
• [5] FTP – Waylon Jennings
• [6] w/ Mickey Raphael (Willie Nelson & Chris Stapleton) on harmonica
• [7] w/ Sam Bush on mandolin and lead vocals
• [8] w/ Sam Bush on mandolin and Bryan Sutton on guitar
• [9] w/ Sam Bush on mandolin, Bryan Sutton on guitar and Mickey Raphael on harmonica
• [10] w/ Sam Bush on mandolin, Bryan Sutton on guitar, Mickey Raphael on harmonica, and Myles Gee on guitar