A lot of hyperbole about Billy Strings gets thrown around these days. The many young converts he’s brought to bluegrass tout him online as already one of the genre’s greats, while the 32-year-old guitarist and more seasoned fans will always defer to legends like Tony Rice, Bryan Sutton, and of course, Doc Watson. But one thing that could not be argued this weekend was that Billy Strings’ three-night run in Asheville, NC was the most financially significant event to happen to the city post-Hurricane Helene, indirectly making Billy one of the town’s greatest financial benefactors behind FEMA.

Whether at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena for sold-out shows on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, the half-dozen venues staging after-parties late into the night, or local restaurants who made fans feel right at home, Billy Strings and his followers were an ever-present force throughout town. While local municipalities—particularly in the Bible Belt—have had tempestuous relationships with the hippie breed dating back decades, Strings’ fourth-annual trip to the arena saw Asheville establish an officially sanctioned Shakedown Street, allowing vendors and artisans to set up shop in a vacant lot across from the arena (for a modest fee to the city, naturally).

The result was one of the first “normal” weekends in Asheville since Helene devastated the region and claimed more than 100 lives in late September. In addition to its profound natural beauty, Asheville has become a jewel of the Southeast thanks to a thriving music scene far more robust than most cities of 100,000 residents. Following The Storm, however, national tours were canceled left and right and local favorite Salvage Station was destroyed entirely—though the hybrid outdoor amphitheater/indoor club was already due to shutter at the end of 2024 to make way for a highway expansion project. This, coupled with a steep decline in seasonal tourism, made Asheville into something of an island in recent months. Many people around the country sent money, supplies, and prayers, but kept their distance out of a justified fear of flooding the region and depriving resources from locals and disaster relief workers.

Amid all this, Billy Strings’ six-show, two-weekend run loomed in the distance as a ray of hope. While other bands canceled their trips to Asheville, Billy kept his. And judging from Saturday’s setlist, he was as happy to see Asheville as the city was to see him, closing out weekend one with a message of resilience.

Billy’s missive of fortitude and brighter days ahead was best exemplified in the second set with the serotonin rush of The Beatles‘ “Here Comes The Sun”. Strings hadn’t performed the Abbey Road favorite since February 28th, 2020 on the Family Strings tour with his dad Terry Barber, per BillyBase. Bandmates Billy Failing, Jarrod Walker, and Royal Masat hadn’t played the song with Strings since November 11th, 2019, three years before fiddler Alex Hargreaves joined the band.

Billy Strings — “Here Comes The Sun” (The Beatles) —2/8/25

[Video: LawsonFilms]

Beyond that, Billy summed up Asheville’s hope for the future with “Ready For The Times To Get Better” in the second set, as well as the rueful reflection of Blaze Foley”s “Cold Cold World” in the first. Even the jubilant Highway Prayers instrumental “Seney Stretch” felt like sunshine coming through the clouds on a rain-soaked day. These songs captured the interminable spirit that extends beyond Western North Carolina, a courage that has led bluegrass to thrive for centuries and fill an arena with 7,200 smiling and singing souls.

But it wasn’t all sunshine and fuzzy rainbows. In contrast, Strings and his bandmates unleashed cataclysmic jams throughout the show, beginning with an incendiary “Fire Line” in the first set. As had been the case all weekend, fiddler Alex Hargreaves lit the fuse on this jam, teeing up Billy for some spacey picking that ultimately turned beautifully chaotic with some slight atonal experiments. “Reuben’s Train” immediately followed “Fire Line”, setting up a 25-minute two-song segment that was an improvisational highlight in a show full of them. Even the cantankerous couple behind me griping for our row to sit down couldn’t dampen in the invigorating instrumentation, ultimately catching “Reuben’s Train” out of the arena amid the jam—much to the relief of the denizens of section 209.

In the second set, Renewal sleeper pick “Leaders” set up a slow-burning jam that gave Billy a Guitar Hero moment he was due for during the exceptionally well-paced show. The jam continued to burn into a stomping romp on Bad Livers‘ “Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt” that got the arena rocking, and it was all gravy from there. When “Wargasm” followed, this good show turned into a great show—entering this reporter’s personal top five—as the band answered the question of what Black Sabbath would sound like in bluegrass form (Bluegrass Sabbath? Has anyone tried that yet?).

The following take on Bob Dylan‘s “Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power)” opened up into a galloping jam, one the band rode straight into a climactic “Pretty Daughter” closer that was the best exclamation point on the weekend that a fan could hope for. Strings still had another bust-out in store with his first “Footprints in the Snow” since February 8th, 2020—despite the 60-degree evening waiting outside—before finally rolling on out with “Roll On Buddy, Roll On”. After watching Billy and his band for three nights straight, this was a great final opportunity to look out from the perch of the stands at the bobbing sea of smiling faces on the floor.

Following the band’s final bows, the house lights came up and the angelic choir of The Beach Boys‘ “God Only Knows” blared from the PA. Though the shows were over (for now), Billy Strings still wasn’t done as he hung around for autographs, selfies, and hugs with the fans in the front row—one last opportunity for him to share his gratitude with the crowd, and them to give it right back.

Billy Strings and his band will take a few well-deserved days off before returning to Asheville for three more shows on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Tickets for the remaining shows are quite sold out, but you can always try CashOrTrade. If you can’t make it to the show, nugs is streaming the entire run to subscribers at no additional cost. Not a nugs subscriber? Start with a seven-day free trial. [Editor’s Note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your nugs subscription or purchasing a download via the links on this page helps support our coverage of the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]

Revisit Live For Live Music‘s coverage of Billy Strings’ first weekend of Asheville shows: Thursday | Friday | Saturday (you’re reading it).

Billy Strings — “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song”, “Tipper” (Tony Rice), “There Is A Time” (Mitch Jayne, Rodney Dillard) [Pro-Shot] — 2/8/25

Billy Strings — “Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine” (The Stanley Brothers) —2/8/25

[Video: LawsonFilms]

Billy Strings — “Leadfoot” —2/8/25

[Video: LawsonFilms]

Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | ExploreAsheville.com Arena | Asheville, NC | 2/8/25

Set One: Leaning on a Travelin’ Song, Tipper (Tony Rice), There Is A Time (Mitch Jayne, Rodney Dillard), Seney Stretch, Cold Cold World (Blaze Foley), Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine (The Stanley Brothers) [1] [2], Fire Line, Reuben’s Train (Traditional), Freedom [3], Katy Daley (Eamon O’Shea) [3], Harbor of Love (The Stanley Brothers) [3], My Sweet Blue Eyed Darling (Bill Monroe) [3]
Set Two: Leadfoot [4], Freeborn Man (Keith Allison, Mark Lindsay), Ready For The Times To Get Better (Allen Reynolds) [5], California Sober -> Run Down (Jeff Austin), It Ain’t Before, Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles) [6], These Old Blues (Larry Sparks), Leaders -> Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt (Bad Livers), Wargasm, Señor (Tales Of Yankee Power) (Bob Dylan) [7] -> Pretty Daughter (Bad Livers)
Encore: Footprints In The Snow (Harry Wright) [8], Roll On Buddy, Roll On (Traditional)

[1] Jarrod Walker on lead vocals
[2] Last Time Played 2024-04-12 | 54 Shows
[3] Band around single mic (w/ instruments), front of stage
[4] Billy on his Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo & Billy Failing on Guitar
[5] Last Time Played 2024-02-24 | 58 Shows
[6] Last Time Played 2020-02-28 | 406 Shows
[7] Last Time Played 2023-12-13 | 68 Shows
[8] Last Time Played 2020-02-08 | 412 Shows

Train songs: 0