Back on July 7th, Billy Strings made his Austin City Limits Live debut at The Moody Theater in Austin, TX as part of the ACL Live performance series. On Thursday, Strings shared a preview of his episode, which will air in full via PBS this Saturday, October 23rd at 9:00 p.m. ET.
The Thursday preview arrived in the form of “Away From The Mire”, taken from the latter half of Strings’ one-hour performance at The Moody. Found between “Slow Train”—off Strings’ 2016 self-titled EP—and “Long Forgotten Dream”, from his 2019’s Grammy-award-winning album, Home, this take on “Away From The Mire” stretched just over 11 minutes.
After launching into the Home track with its effects-laden riff, Billy began singing the starting first verse. Strings, Billy Failing (banjo/vocals/piano), Royal Masat (bass/vocals), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin/vocals/guitar) then started picking up the pace as they moved through the first couple of choruses and into the jam section. The “Away From The Mire” jam was a slow build characterized by a tight interplay between the performers. Strings started with some wavy licks and arpeggios on his acoustic guitar before speeding up and surrendering to a more distorted sound as the jam moved past the 5-minute mark. Eventually, Strings and company reigned in the improv section and returned to the familiarity of the verse.
Below, watch Billy Strings perform “Away From The Mire” at Austin City Limits Live.
Billy Strings – “Away From The Mire” – Austin City Limits Live
Additionally, Friday saw the arrival of “Red Daisy”, which fell at the beginning of his Moody Theater performance and originally on 2021’s Billboard-topping album, Renewal. Alongside this also arrived a full interview with Strings immediately following his ACL Live performance. Here, Strings talked about his early influences, learning bluegrass guitar from his dad Terry Barber, writing songs with the rest of his band, and more.
He expanded on the inspiration behind songs like “Dust In A Baggie”, talked about life growing up, and even discussed how music connects with people.
“That’s the other thing I love about music,” said Strings midway through the interview. “The lyrics are always open to interpretation by the listener. That person has something totally different going on in their life than I had going on in my life when I wrote [“Away From The Mire”], but somehow, sometimes little things relate and that’s when I really touch somebody.”
Below, check out his performance of “Red Raisy” and the ensuing interview, and be sure to catch his full performance on October 23rd at 9:00 p.m. ET. The episode will surface here following its TV airing on PBS. Strings will continue his fall tour over Halloween weekend in Asheville, NC. Scroll down for a full list of tour dates and head here for tickets and more information.
Billy Strings – “Red Daisy” – Austin City Limits Live
Billy Strings Austin City Limits Interview
[H/TÂ JamBase]