Full Show Audio: Billy Strings Performs At 2018 Telluride Bluegrass Festival

The 45th Telluride Bluegrass Festival began yesterday and runs through Sunday at Town Park in Telluride, Colorado. Talented picker Billy Strings was among the first performers at this year’s event on Thursday. KOTO-FM is broadcasting sets throughout the weekend and a recording of Billy’s set from the public radio station has surfaced.

Strings took the stage early in the day on Thursday with bassist Royal Masat, banjo player Billy Failing and mandolinist Jarrod Walker. The group opened with the staple “Turmoil & Tinfoil” and the worked a jam on The Allman Brothers Band’s “Melissa” into “While I’m Waiting Here.” Strings proceeded to fit teases of Phish’s “Carini” into his own “Pyramid Country.”

The set rolled on with the quartet’s interpretations of “Train, Train” by Blackfoot and “This Heart Of Mine” by New Grass Revival. Strings then led the group through the original “Dust In A Baggie.” Next, Billy treated festival-goers to a solo rendition of “Am I Born To Die.” The rest of the band returned for a cover of Pearl Jam’s “In Hiding.”

Billy welcomed bluegrass legend Sam Bush to the stage for a rollicking version of Keith Allison and Mark Lindsay’s “Freeborn Man.” Strings had more Phish in store with a “Tweezer Reprise” jam inserted into the original “Meet Me At The Creek.” The set concluded with Billy’s “On The Line” and a cover of The Stanley Brothers’ “How Mountain Girls Can Love.”

Listen to a recording of Billy’s set at Telluride captured from the KOTO stream by Tyler Jernigan:

Setlist

Set: Turmoil & Tinfoil, While I’m Waiting Here, Pyramid Country, Train Train, This Heart Of Mine, Dust In A Baggie, Am I Born To Die, In Hiding, Freeborn Man (w/ Sam Bush), Meet Me At The Creek