Billy Strings Is On Tour. Go See Billy Strings.
When bandying around the biggest names coming up in independent country and roots music, you can’t forget about Billy Strings. Billy is the bluegrass representative of this movement that spans from honky tonk to Americana, and just like his counterparts in Tyler Childers and others, we’re seeing that same pattern where Billy’s having to double up on show dates to meet demand as he prepares to release a new record this fall.
Along with big festival appearances at Raibird in Lexington, Kentucky, the Whimmydiddle Country Festival in Ohio, and playing with Greensky Bluegrass on September 15th at Red Rocks in Colorado, Billy Strings is doubling up on shows at Terminal West in Atlanta, at The Independent in San Francisco, Revolution Hall in Portland, The Jefferson Theater in Charlottesville, Virginia, and The Brooklyn Bowl in Brooklyn, NY along with other dates. Right now tickets are still very reasonable, and it might be one of those moments when you kick yourself for not being able to see someone perform in a smaller venue when you had the chance.
Billy’s debut 2017 album Turmoil & Tinfoil earned high marks from Saving Country Music, and in 2018, he was named the #2 best live performer only behind Mike and the Moonpies. It was announced that Billy Strings had officially signed to Rounder Records in June, and will be releasing his latest album HOME on September 27th, 2019. Don’t be surprised if it launches him into the stratosphere of not just bluegrass, but country and Americana, and the world of music beyond where Billy wows crowds from the jam band and rock world, and even jazz and experimental music with his other-worldly improvisation and musical imagination.
As Saving Country Music has said about Billy Strings before, “The only way to describe the Billy Strings live experience is like tripping without acid. The compositional fortitude is so soaring, it opens up recess in your mind that are otherwise inaccessible. In a word, Billy Strings is a modern-day musical virtuoso.”
See the remaining Billy Strings 2019 tour dates below.
8/10 Lexington, KY – Railbird Music Festival
8/16 Hamilton, OH – Whimmydiddle Country Music Festival
8/17 Cockeysville, MD -Hot August Music Festival
8/18 Wellston, MI – Hoxeyville Music Festival
8/30 Beaver Creek, CO – VPAC Summer Concert Series
8/31 Pagosa Springs, CO – Four Corners Folk Festival
9/1 Steamboat Springs, CO – Steamboat Summer Concert Series
9/5 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
9/6 Atlanta, GA – Terminal West
9/7 Athens, GA – Georgia Theater
9/11 Nashville, TN – Americanafest
9/15 Morrison, CO – Red Rocks Amphitheatre
9/17 Salt Lake City, UT – Commonwealth Room
9/19 Crystal Bay, NV – Crown Room
9/20 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
9/21 San Francisco, CA – The Independent
9/22 Santa Cruz, CA – Santa Cruz Sol Music Festival
9/26 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
9/27 Portland, OR – Revolution Hall
9/28 Seattle, WA – The Showbox
10/3 Paso Robles, CA – Barrel House Brew Co.
10/4 Los Angeles, CA – Lodge Room
10/6 Austin, TX – Austin City Limits Music Festival
10/9 Phoenix, AZ – Crescent Ballroom
10/11 Eureka Springs, AR – Hillberry Music Festival
10/13 Tucson, AZ – 191 Toole
10/17 Dallas, TX – Deep Ellum Art Co.
10/18 Austin, TX – Scoot Inn
10/19 Houston, TX – Last Concert Cafe
10/30 Knoxville, TN – Bijou Theatre
10/31 Asheville, NC – Orange Peel
11/1 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
11/2 Carrboro, NC – Cat’s Cradle
11/6 Norfolk, VA – The NorVa
11/7 Charlottesville, VA – The Jefferson Theater
11/8 Charlottesville, VA – The Jefferson Theater
11/9 Washington, DC – 9:30 Club
11/10 Asbury Park, NJ – Stone Pony
11/13 Boston, MA – The Sinclair
11/14 Boston, MA – The Sinclair
11/15 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl
11/16 Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Bowl
11/19 Cleveland OH – Beachland Ballroom
11/21 Madison, WI – Majestic Theater
11/22 Chicago, IL – Concord Music Hall
11/23 Covington, KY – Madison Theater
August 7, 2019 @ 9:47 am
Well ok, but is he any good?
August 7, 2019 @ 9:57 am
….. he’s not bad. i’d sell my firstborn to see him
August 7, 2019 @ 10:12 am
I was kidding.
August 7, 2019 @ 4:11 pm
I wasn’t
August 7, 2019 @ 10:26 am
I well remember how exciting it was when Nickel Creek came out with their debut and we all got to see Chris Thile explode on the scene, changing our view of mandolin and blowing our collective minds with unheard virtuosity. I wasnt around yet when Earl Scruggs or Tony Rice appeared on the scene in equally daredevil fashion and blew the grass world away, but I can only imagine. Now we are privileged to see the most significant flat picker to come along since Rice. That’s a big deal. Embrace it.
August 7, 2019 @ 11:05 am
“When bandying around the biggest names coming up in independent country and roots music, you can’t forget about Billy Strings. Billy is the bluegrass representative of this movement that spans from honky tonk to Americana,”……..
Bluegrass doesn’t have or need a movement, because unlike the other sub-categories of C(c)ountry music, Bluegrass never died or decreased in popularity. It’s always been what it is, and appealed to whom it appealed to. It’s a false narrative to try to lump Bluegrass performers in with any kind of independent movement.
This kid is really good, but I’ve seen some clips of him bringing a less-than-family-friendly vibe to the stage, which is a tolerable turn-off to me in C(c)ountry, while being downright unacceptable to me in Bluegrass, a style that leans heavy on the gospel.
August 7, 2019 @ 12:13 pm
In the Bill Monroe/Doc Watson sense, sure, but bluegrass, jamgrass, progressive bluegrass, whatever you want to call it, isn’t always “family friendly”. Lots of artists use colorful language and reference various substances in their music. It’d probably be out of place at your local bluegrass festival, but for the venues and festivals Billy and his contemporaries play, they fit right in. Go back far enough and everything is rooted in gospel or religious music in some way or another. Even Elvis and Hank managed to record plenty of hymns and gospel music while also recording songs with questionable subject matter for the time.
Can’t wait to see Billy and the boys in Atlanta on 9/6 then go serve at my church on 9/8!
August 7, 2019 @ 1:36 pm
Except for that point in history where they said the devil plays the fiddle.
My dear Honky Crank, you really don’t think bluegrass changes? Like when the Dillards made it a show off genre? Or when the likes of Emmylou (Roses in the snow) brought a polish to it that paved the way for Alison Krauss.
The whole jam band bluegrass of Bela, Jerry, Sam bush etc.
And as mentioned earlier, Chris Thile. Or the fact that at the moment most of the top bluegrass musicians are female.
So yeah, bluegrass is pretty cruisy.
Not sure where the gospel roots are when Hayseed Dixie plays Highway to Hell
August 8, 2019 @ 6:10 am
Cool, we have our negative comment. Your work here is done…
August 8, 2019 @ 6:45 am
lol stay home then.
August 10, 2019 @ 6:26 am
Why the hell do you spell it C(c)ountry?
August 7, 2019 @ 11:14 am
going on me bday! yay for me
August 7, 2019 @ 12:24 pm
“Over yonder staaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaands Little Maggie…”
August 8, 2019 @ 12:48 pm
If you know, you know.
August 7, 2019 @ 12:30 pm
After discovering Joseph Huber’s “Moondog” yesterday and Billy Strings’s “Turmoil & Tinfoil” today, I find myself asking “Who’s Tyler Childers?”
August 7, 2019 @ 8:51 pm
When Tyler puts out a bluegrass album, that comparison would be more fitting.
August 8, 2019 @ 5:37 am
I just meant it as I had been listening to “Country Squire” a lot, but now those two albums are taking up all my time.
August 7, 2019 @ 1:22 pm
I heard him when he toured with the trio “I’m With Her” Sara Watkins (Formally of “Nickel Creek”) Sarah Jarosz, and Aiofe O’Donovan…He was great…You all should give them a listen too. They’re fantastic.
August 7, 2019 @ 1:25 pm
Score one for his management team, they’re really getting him the gigs.
August 7, 2019 @ 2:36 pm
Just my crappy luck. I moved last week (to a new state) and he’s going to be around the corner from my old apartment
August 7, 2019 @ 5:07 pm
Billy is incredible. He’s a guitar hero in an era where they seem to be rare. He has such a deep enthusiasm and respect for bluegrass and the flatpicking style and he executes that on stage in a very cool way. His band is killer, too. They seamlessly follow his cues and transition from Dead covers to bluegrass standards with ease. I’ve seen him twice and am going to see him this weekend in Lexington. It’s a high energy, psychedelic bluegrass experience.
August 7, 2019 @ 6:29 pm
If speed with no meat were a thing, Yngwie Malmsteen would be God. Just seems like a bunch if hipsters, as talented as they may be, actin like they’ve invented something. No soul in it all…
August 8, 2019 @ 6:47 am
The most un-informed comment of 2019 right here. Billy is steeped in old time music and may very well be the biggest torch bearer of Doc Watson’s catalog than anyone in the music industry right now.
August 8, 2019 @ 11:41 am
well said!
August 8, 2019 @ 7:39 am
I was hoping to get tickets to the ‘What the NIght Brings’ show (tribute to Jeff Austin) in Denver which Billy Strings will also perform at but tickets are nowhere to be found as of now. Does anyone know if this will be recorded. I would love to see it on DVD/Blu-Ray or something if I can’t eventually find a ticket. It’s only one night but over a dozen artists and I’m sure it’s going to be a special event.
August 8, 2019 @ 12:51 pm
Can probably find it on Archive.net or the Relisten app. I’m sure there will be tapers there.
August 8, 2019 @ 12:53 pm
Also heard they released more tickets and moved to a bigger venue.
August 8, 2019 @ 11:45 am
I have see Billy at least 15 times, had opportunity to hang out with him on several occasions…even with his father too. He is a very humble young man whose roots are deep in traditional BlueGrass. He started playing at a very young age and has grown exponentially in the past 3-4 years. This kid is the “total package”!
August 8, 2019 @ 6:10 pm
Just wanted to comment to say that “Taking Water” is an incredible song.
August 8, 2019 @ 8:49 pm
Where does one buy tickets?
August 12, 2019 @ 1:03 pm
I’ve had my tickets to see him for weeks now. Thanks for the heads up about him, Trig!