Generational Jam: New Papa Billy Strings Welcomes Father Terry Barber At Tour Opener In Michigan

After an eventful few weeks that included the birth of his first child, Billy Strings kicked off his fall tour on Friday with the first of two home state concerts at Pine Knob Music Theatre in Clarkston, Michigan. Strings was joined by his father, Terry Barber, on a five-song run towards the end of a first set that also included the live debuts of two songs from his recently released Highway Prayers album.

Terry Barber stepped in as Strings’ (William Apostol) dad following the death of his biological father when Billy was 2 years old. Barber was young William Apostol’s first and most important musical mentor. The pair released the Grammy-nominated collaborative album, ME/AND/DAD, in 2022 and last collaborated publicly on May 24, 2024 at Allstate Arena in Rosemont, Illinois.

Billy Strings and bandmates mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves plucked Johnny Cash’s “Big River” to get the 94-minute first set underway. The quintet then worked the original “Know It All” into the Doc Watson version of “Riding That Midnight Train” before laying into the beloved “Turmoil & Tinfoil.”

Highway Prayers cut “Don’t Be Calling Me (At 4am)” became the first live debut of the night next. Then, Strings addressed the crowd about witnessing his wife give birth, explaining:

I’m a daddy now. A couple of days ago I got to witness the most amazing thing and I’ve never seen anything like it. The courage and strength and everything my wife went through to bring our son into the world.

And I look out at this big old crowd of people and I think every single one of them was brought here from a similar situation as that. Everyone of us was brought here by a woman. I was talking to a friend yesterday about how sometimes society views women and makes them into objects and stuff like that — myself included, I’m not innocent in any of that — but I do think after what I saw a couple of days ago I’m a fucking changed man.

I think that we need to lift our women up people. Because we wouldn’t even fucking be here without them.

Billy Strings ended his speech and performed “In The Morning Light” from his 2021 LP, Renewal. From there, Strings covered Widespread Panic’s “All Time Low,” which he dedicated to WSP guitarist Jimmy Herring who was recently diagnosed with tonsil cancer and premiered Highway Prayers’ “Gild The Lily.”

Terry Barber emerged after the evening’s last Highway Prayers debut to team with his son and his band on a string of five covers. Barber led the ensemble through the Billy Strings debut of Fred Stryker’s “Don’t Step Over An Old Love” to start his time on stage. Next came Strings’ first public take on Andrew Jenkins’ “Dream Of A Miner’s Child,” one of the songs Billy and Terry recorded for ME/AND/DAD.

Terry Barber returned to the frontman role on Gershwin’s “Summertime” and the Billy Strings debut of Emma Smith/Larry Sparks’ “Don’t Neglect The Rose,” which were split by a cover of the Earl Scruggs classic “Blue Ridge Mountain Blues.” Strings last version of the latter came back on June 23, 2022 — a span of 209 shows. The bluegrass phenom went sans dad to close the set by linking “The Fire On My Tongue” and “Bronzeback.”

Billy Strings’ second set-opening “Likes Of Me” bled into “Must Be Seven,” which gave way to a 26-minute, well-jammed pairing of “Pyramid Country” and “Meet Me At The Creek.” The guitarist then put the focus on Highway Prayers with “My Alice” and “Seven Weeks In Country.” The latter led into “Red Daisy” ahead of a run of “Hellbender > “Doin’ Things Right > Southern Flavor” to end the concert as the clock struck 11 p.m., the curfew for the evening.

The tour moves on to Indianapolis’ Gainbridge Fieldhouse on Friday, October 11 and Saturday, October 12. Head to nugs.net to watch livestreams of Billy Strings’ fall tour concerts.

Watch more fan-shot video of the tour opener below:

Setlist (via BillyBase.net)

Set One: Big River [1], Know It All > Ridin’ That Midnight Train, Turmoil & Tinfoil, Don’t Be Calling Me (at 4 AM) [2] [3], In The Morning Light, All Time Low, Gild the Lily [2], Don’t Step Over an Old Love [4] [5] [6], Dream of a Miner’s Child [4] [7], Summertime [4] [6], Blue Ridge Mountain Blues [4] [8], Don’t Neglect the Rose [4] [6] [9], The Fire On My Tongue > Bronzeback

Set Two: Likes Of Me > Must Be Seven [10] > Pyramid Country > Meet Me At The Creek, My Alice, Seven Weeks in County > Red Daisy, Hellbender > Doin’ Things Right > Southern Flavor

• Last Time Played 2022-10-30 | 166 Shows
• Debut – Original
• Billy shared the story behind the new song, released on “Highway Prayers”
• w/ Dad (Terry Barber)
• FTP – Fred Stryker
• Terry Barber (Dad) on lead vocals
• FTP – Andrew Jenkins
• Last Time Played 2022-06-23 | 209 Shows
• FTP – Emma Smith w/ Larry Sparks
• “Pyramid Country” Fakeout Intro.