Once again the wild and disparate misfit toys that get cobbled together under the designation of “Americana” did their best to make themselves presentable, hitched a ride downtown, and took over the Mother Church.
Even Billy Strings himself admits openly that the best way to imbibe in his music is in the live setting. But that doesn’t mean he can’t get into the studio between shows and see what kind of trouble he can get into.
Noam Pikelny—the banjo maestro and member of both The Punch Brothers and Mighty Polar—he said it best in his always humorous statements from the stage. “Telluride is like ‘Lord of the Flies’ meets the Grand Ole Opry.”
Billy Strings commonly includes traditional bluegrass songs in his live shows, but there is ample improvisation showcased too, which despite the bluegrass instrumentation, can take Billy beyond the bluegrass genre. That’s not what Sunday night was about though. “This is hallowed ground.”