It Finally Happened. Billy Strings and Luke Black Join Forces On Stage
The gathering of the bluegrass tribes is happening in Chattanooga, TN this week as part of the IBMA’s World of Bluegrass festival/conference. You can expect the highlights and collaborations to be through the roof all week as some of the best pickers in the discipline make their way to Tennessee.
Bluegrass isn’t like country where you have Zach Bryan vs. Gavin Adcock, Gavin Adcock vs. Charley Crockett, and Paul Cauthen vs. Charley Crockett at the moment. Collaboration and mutual respect has (most) always been part of the bluegrass world, especially with this latest generation. You won’t see any beefs break out between Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, or Trey Hensley anytime soon.
One of the fastest-rising stars in all of bluegrass has been flatpicker Luke Black of the band Mountain Grass Unit. When Saving Country Music posted one especially blazing run from Black during Mountain Grass Unit’s now legendary set at the Telluride Bluegrass Festival in June, it went viral, and then went viral again.
None other than Billy String himself took notice, especially after folks were tagging Strings and saying he had stiff competition coming up behind him. “Kinda rude of him to be this good honestly,” Strings piped up. “Luckily for me we’re on the same team.”
Pretty big endorsement for Luke Black to say the least. And pretty big by Billy Strings to not fall for the online bait to somehow be angry that someone else is doing so well.
Well on Wednesday evening (9-17) at The Signal in Chattanooga’s Choo Choo complex, the train tracks of Billy Strings and Blake Black finally converged, with Black joining Strings on stage for a rendition of “Hello City Limits.”
Bluegrass is in a big resurgence at the moment thanks to superpickers like Billy Strings and Luke Black who both show incredible reverence for the genre while also being willing to nudge it forward in a way that has helped keep bluegrass relevant in the modern context. Where in previous years the superpickers of a generation might be assuaged to rock or blues, they’re now finding a home in bluegrass and gracing the country subgenre with generational talent.
The meeting of Billy Strings and Luke Black in Chattanooga might have been the first. But you can almost guarantee it won’t be the last. As one commenter said, “It’s performances like this that make me feel like I’m alive at the right time.”
September 18, 2025 @ 9:33 am
You know, im kicking myself on Mountain Grass Unit. They were on a secondary stage at Delfest and I think 3rd stage the previous year, and I missed them both times as I was watching mainstage acts. I had no idea how good Mountain Grass Unit really is, and I’ve seen some secondary stage acts that are ehhhh.. but I blew it on this one. Clearly these guys are rising stars and clearly Black is getting recognition. Good on him.
September 18, 2025 @ 12:24 pm
How I wish I’d been able to attend this festival/conference!
No post about Steve Earle as the newest Opry member? He says he intends to appear very regularly, which is a commitment I wish some others would also make, including Emmylou Harris, who inducted him.