Billy Strings Breaks Out 1st Song He Played For His Baby Boy In Memphis

Billy Strings resumed his fall tour this past weekend with a two-night stand at the FedEx Forum in Memphis. Strings built up his finale on Saturday from solo to full-band format over the first half of the opening set and worked in a performance of the song he serenaded his new child with soon after he came home from the hospital.

The guitarist took the stage by himself to kick off Saturday’s show with solo performances of “Be Your Man” and “Dust In A Baggie.” Then, mandolinist Jarrod Walker emerged for a “Thirst Mutilator” duet. Strings and Walker went on to welcome fiddler Alex Hargreaves to play the Jimmie Rodgers-popularized “Sleep, Baby, Sleep.”

Billy Strings told the crowd a story before dusting off “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” explaining:

“When I was a little kid we lived in a little trailer and sometimes my dad would lay me and my brother down and sing. The walls were paper thin, you could hear him playing in the other room. So my brother and I would be in the bedrooms. He would go in the living room and turn the ceiling fan off and the tv and anything that makes noise and make it real quiet and dark and play little lullaby songs. It would knock me and my brother out.

“I just had a son back in September. When I brought him home from the hospital this was the first song that I sang to him. I watched his little eyes fade as he drifted off to sleep.”

The “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” performed by Strings, Walker and Hargreaves was the first version played in public by Billy since he debuted the cover in Sacramento on October 4, 2023. Watch the trio version from Saturday night in Memphis via fan-shot video below:

Strings brought out his remaining bandmates — bassist Royal Masat and banjo player Billy Failing — to follow “Sleep, Baby, Sleep,” with versions of “Freedom” and “How Long Have I Been Waiting On You?” performed by the full band around a single mic. The rest of the set was played in standard format as all five musicians rolled through “Slow Train,” a sequence connecting “While I’m Waiting Here”/”Must Be Seven” and “Away From The Mire” as well as “New Country Blues,” “Ernest T. Grass” and “Ridin’ That Midnight Train.”

The last set of Billy Strings’ Memphis run went heavy on cuts from the guitarist’s recently released Highway Prayers album, starting with a “Malfunction Junction” opener. Strings & Co. performed the LP’s “Cabin Song” towards the middle of the set and treated fans to a well-jammed “Gild The Lily” to end the frame. Other highlights were the band’s debut cover of the traditional “St. James Hospital” and String using his custom “Bride” guitar for “Guitar Peace” and the Pink Floyd classic “Fearless.”

Strings had one more surprise in store for the encore. Billy led his band through their first-ever take on The Delmore Brothers’ “Midnight Train” to wrap the show.

Watch the start of Saturday’s show via nugs.net and more fan-shot video from the evening:

Billy Strings returns to the stage on Tuesday night at BOK Center in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Free livestreams of Strings’ remaining fall tour shows are available for nugs.net subscribers.

Official Audio (via nugs.net)

Setlist (via BillyBase.net)

Set One: Be Your Man [1], Dust In A Baggie [1], Thirst Mutilator [2], Sleep, Baby, Sleep [3] [4] [5], Freedom [6], How Long Have I Been Waiting On You? [6], Slow Train, While I’m Waiting Here > Must Be Seven Away > From The Mire, New Country Blues, Ernest T. Grass [7] > Ridin’ That Midnight Train

Set Two: Malfunction Junction, Secrets, Fire Line, The Lonesome River, In The Morning Light, The Preacher & The Bear, Cabin Song, St. James Hospital [8],Guitar Peace [9], Fearless [9], Libby Phillips Rag, Gild the Lily

Encore: Midnight Train [10]

Notes:

• [1] – Billy Strings Solo, Seated Front of Stage
• [2] – Billy Strings and Jarrod Walker Duo, Seated Front of Stage
• [3] – Billy Strings, Jarrod Walker & Alex Hargreaves Trio, Seated Front of Stage
• [4] – Billy Shared 2 Stories: first as a kid growing up in his trailer and often falling asleep hearing his dad playing this song through the paper-thin walls. Second, he shared about driving his son home from the hospital and this being the first song Billy sang to his new baby boy
• [5] – Last Time Played 20232-10-04 | 78 Shows
• [6] – Full Band Around Single Mic, Front of Stage
• [7] – w/ Slow, Funky Intro.
• [8] – FTP – Traditional
• [9] – Billy Strings on his “Bride” Preston-Thompson D-SBA Custom guitar
• [10] – FTP – The Delmore Brothers