Billy Strings on Friday celebrated the arrival of his first major-label studio album, Highway Prayers, by pairing the release with the announcement of a winter 2025 tour.
The newly announced run of 2025 tour dates will begin in January with a three-night run at Denver, CO’s Ball Arena (1/24, 1/25, 1/26). These special “360° shows” will mark Billy Strings first-ever in-the-round performances.
From there, Billy and his namesake band will return to Asheville, NC for a run of six shows at ExploreAsheville.com Arena spread across two consecutive weekends (Thursday, 2/6–Saturday, 2/8 and Friday, 2/14–Sunday, 2/16). The tour will head to Atlanta, GA’s State Farm Arena from there for a two-night stint (2/21, 2/22) before Billy Strings makes his way home to Nashville, TN for a three-show run featuring two shows at Bridgestone Arena (2/28, 3/1) and a tour-closing performance at the storied Ryman Auditorium (3/2).
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Pre-sale tickets for the newly announced Billy Strings 2025 winter tour dates behind Highway Prayers go on sale beginning on Wednesday, October 9th at 10:00 a.m. local venue time. Sign up for pre-sale access via the tour page on the Billy Strings website. A general on-sale will follow on Friday, October 11th at 10:00 a.m. local venue time. Complete ticketing details for the newly announced dates, as well as Billy’s upcoming 2024 fall tour dates, can be found here. Click below to view a full list of upcoming Billy Strings tour dates.
Highway Prayers is Billy Strings’ first studio release since his 2022 father-son team-up LP, Me/And/Dad, and his first solo studio collection since 2021’s Renewal. The 20-track Highway Prayers, co-produced by Billy Strings and Jon Brion, is available now on streaming services and in physical formats via Reprise Records. Its release was preceded by a string of singles—”Leadfoot“, “Stratosphere Blues / I Believe In You“, and “Seven Weeks In County“—with accompanying music videos.
The album features a mix of never-before-heard material and songs Strings has already introduced during his live performances. Among the familiar songs on the record is “Catch & Release“, a story about Billy and Vince Herman‘s brush with the law while fishing, which was previously issued in 2020 as a single with an accompanying animated video. Others—like “MOREBUD4ME”, the instantly catchy ode to weed based on a looped recording of a lighter and a bong—are new to fans but are sure to embed themselves in listeners’ brains for the foreseeable future. As a laughing Jon Brion told GQ of the stoner track in a new profile on Billy, “I personally felt it was an instant classic.”
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In addition to releasing the lengthy album on audio streaming services, Billy Strings released a full-length, animated “lyric movie” on YouTube that allows viewers to follow along with the words to every song and immerse themselves in a series of surreal scenes while they listen to Highway Prayers. The film was created by Weird Cabinet and directed by Kevin Thomma with illustrations and footage by Josh “Squimpy” Hall and additional illustrations, storyboard, and character design by Javier Pena.
Watch the Billy Strings Highway Prayers animated lyric movie below. Stream Highway Prayers on the platform of your choice here. Scroll down to view the full album tracklist.
Strings and his band—which features Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle)—will continue to celebrate the release of Highway Prayers this week with the third edition of Renewal, the group’s curated festival in Buena Vista, CO. While the event is sold out, a livestream is available. For livestream details, head here.
Billy Strings – Highway Prayers (Official Lyric Movie)
Billy Strings – Highway Prayers – Full Track Listing
Leaning on a Travelin’ Song – 3:58
In the Clear – 2:57
Escanaba – 4:34
Gild the Lily – 5:06
Seven Weeks In County – 4:16
Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You – 5:51
Cabin Song – 3:15
Don’t Be Calling Me (at 4AM) – 3:15
Malfunction Junction – 4:52
Catch and Release – 2:14
Be Your Man – 4:01
Gone a Long Time – 3:02
It Ain’t Before – 3:46
My Alice – 4:06
Seney Stretch – 4:34
MORBUD4ME – 2:55
Leadfoot – 2:46
Happy Hollow – 2:46
The Beginning of the End – 3:57
Richard Petty – 1:57