[Update 11/20/25]: Billy Strings appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Thursday night for a performance of “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song”, the opening track from his Grammy Award-nominated 2024 LP, Highway Prayers.
In addition to his regular touring band, composed of Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (upright bass), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), the Millennial bluegrass torch-bearer recruited esteemed fiddler Jason Carter (Del McCoury Band) for the performance to reprise his guest appearance on the studio version of the track.
Billy Strings and his music exist as the intersection of many styles and moods, and this Late Show performance leaned toward his traditional bluegrass roots, each member of the ensemble taking an impressive turn in the spotlight in their formal attire.
Following the performance, Jason Isbell shared the video alongside some thoughts about seeing bluegrass music on this high profile stage: “If I’d seen this on tv when I was a kid I might be a real flatpicker now.” Isbell wrote on Threads.
Watch the video of Billy Strings performing “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song” on The Late Show below. Scroll down to read more about Billy Strings’ history of performances on late-night TV.
After a brief break, Billy Strings and his band will return to the road from December 5th–December 14th for their final run of tour dates of 2025. Find a list of upcoming dates and ticketing details here. Watch nightly Billy Strings tour livestreams and listen to past performances via nugs here.
Billy Strings – “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song” – The Late Show with Stephen Colbert – 11/20/25
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[11/17/25]: Billy Strings will perform on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert this Thursday, November 20th, the bluegrass superstar announced on Sunday evening. Tune in on CBS beginning at 11:35 p.m. ET on Thursday to catch the performance.
The performance on the CBS late-night talk show is the latest in a long string of late-night TV appearances for Billy Strings in the last several years. Since making his late-night debut in July 2020 with a pre-recorded performance from Nashville on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, he has returned to Kimmel (2021), made his debut on Colbert (2022), and taken his talents to Late Night with Seth Meyers (2022) and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (2024).
The announcement of the Colbert appearance arrived the day after Billy Strings (guitar, vocals) and his band—Royal Masat (bass), Billy Failing (banjo), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle)—completed a run of early-November arena tour dates with a two-night stint at Newark, NJ’s Prudential Center. The band is set to return to the road and round out its touring year in December with arena shows in Louisville, KY (12/5, 12/6), Tulsa, OK (12/10), Fort Worth, TX (12/12), and Austin, TX (12/13, 12/14). Find tickets to upcoming Billy Strings tour dates here.
Listen to all of Billy Strings’ live shows and access livestreams of his upcoming December tour dates with a nugs All Access subscription. Not a subscriber yet? Get started here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription via the links on this page helps support our work covering the world of live music. Thanks for reading!]
In other news, Billy Strings just received his eighth career Grammy Award nomination (Best Bluegrass Album for 2024’s Highway Prayers). He has won the category twice before, for Live Vol. 1 in 2024 and for Home in 2020.
