If you’ve had the pleasure of indulging in all 16 hours of Ken Burns’s Country Music documentary, then you may have been left with the burning question of who will bear the torch for the rich legacy of country and bluegrass? The answer, my friend, is Billy Strings. Since bursting onto the scene a few years ago, the young Michigan guitarist and his band have been tearing up the road with a live show that manages to straddle bluegrass traditionalism and rock and roll brinkmanship, all done with extreme instrumental prowess. Like many of the greats before him, the aptly named Strings isn’t afraid to take risks and smash convention. This has garnered him a die-hard and increasingly large fanbase, as evidenced by his current tour, which finds him playing his largest venues to date and selling out pretty much every damn one of them. On Thursday, September 26th, Strings kicked off a long sold-out two-night run at Revolution Hall in Portland, Oregon.
On the eve of releasing his sophomore album Home, Strings and his band would treat the crowd to a sprawling, eclectic performance that balanced covers and older favorites. Surprisingly, they wouldn’t play any new material, but would play Home in its entirety during the second set of their show the following night. One of the first highlights of the show came during “Likes of Me”, which featured a beautiful and eloquent banjo solo from Billy Failing, who would frequently stand out with impressive playing throughout the night. Strings would also take a solo during this tune, sounding like Duane Allman reincarnated as a bluegrass player. In the first set there would be a handful of covers, including old standards like “How Mountain Girls Can Love” – played quick, feisty, and on point – and “Shady Grove,” the latter showcasing some fine fiddle playing from John Mailander. Strings would layer a psych rock guitar effect on “So Many Miles” while each of his band mates delivered jaw-dropping solos. Another major set one highlight would be the band’s own quick-tempo instrumental “Pyramid Country” with a loose and rocking rendition of JJ Cale’s “Ride Me High” sandwiched in between, only to follow it up with an explosive, high-speed take on the String Cheese Incident’s “Black Clouds”.
If set one kept things a little more traditional, set two would find the band experimenting with more instrument effects, funkier sounds, and general trippiness. Their approach to jamming almost felt competitive at times, with each member eagerly taking the spotlight and always trying to one-up the last solo. Their cover of the Grateful Dead’s “Deal” featured exciting interplay between Mailander on fiddle and mandolin player Jarrod Walker while Strings blazed up and down his fret board with precision and grace. Appreciation for tradition would again be showcased with a cover of Bill Monroe’s haunting classic “With Body and Soul” played hard and heavy, only to follow it up with a seemingly opposite song choice by covering Son Seals’ (popularized by Phish) groovy blues tune “Funky Bitch”, with Walker using a steel drum effect on his mandolin for added weirdness. One of the biggest moments of the night came toward the end of the set when the band introduced “Take Me To The Creek” with an array of psychedelic effects. This song would stretch out with some of the biggest jams of the night and include a tease of Pink Floyd’s “Another Brick In The Wall Part 2”, reminding the audience once again that there is no musical terrain Billy Strings won’t tackle.
Some in the crowd may have appreciated fewer covers and more originals (this has become way too common in the jam scene), but ultimately Billy Strings and his band put on a wide-ranging performance that touched on influences both contemporary and traditional, as well as their own originality. Throughout the show, the band demonstrated the kind of rock and roll energy alongside a love for jamming as much as playing songs that we used to see in acts like Yonder Mountain String Band (circa Jeff Austin) and currently see in peers like Greensky Bluegrass. In Portland, Billy Strings once again pushed bluegrass and country music into the future, head banging while he did it.
All photos by Greg Homolka.
