Though Billy Strings is playing a supporting role on Willie Nelson‘s traveling Outlaw Music Festival, the bluegrass guitarist made the most of Thursday’s stop outside San Diego by jamming “Meet Me at the Creek” with mandolinist Sierra Hull and introducing a new original song.
Billy Strings was the lead-in for Bob Dylan at the North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre, and packed quite a bit into his 75-minute, 12-song set. Ripping through staples “Sally Goodin”, “Slow Train”, and “Away From the Mire”, Strings included only one song from his latest album Highway Prayers, the tender “Be Your Man”. A jammed-out “Thirst Mutilator” was a harbinger of things to come before Strings knocked out an obligatory “Dust in a Baggie”.
With his unofficial requirement of “hit” songs taken care of, the latter half of the performance more closely resembled the elongated two-set shows that have led thousands of fans to follow Strings across the country and even around the globe. Immediately after “Dust in a Baggie”, Strings went solo for a tribute to songwriting great Blaze Foley on “Cold Cold World”. Though Strings just issued a chart-topping, 20-track album last fall, he’s still churning out new compositions including the “10,000 Miles From a Friend” he debuted on Thursday.
“This song kept me up all night. It’s fresh from the oven,” Strings remarked as he introduced the song. The fingerpicking style recalled folk greats like Townes Van Zandt and John Prine, a fitting accompaniment to the plain-spoken story of a trucker all alone out on the road.
Billy Strings — “10,000 Miles From A Friend” — 5/15/25
[Video: COUNTRY MUSIC FLIKS]
Luckily, Strings was far closer than 10,000 miles from a friend, as he invited out fellow Outlaw Fest performer Sierra Hull to join him onstage along with the rest of his band. The five-time IBMA Mandolin Player of the Year stuck with Strings for the remainder of the set, dueling mandolins with Jarrod Walker on Bill Monroe‘s “Southern Flavor”.
Though “Psycho” wasn’t accompanied by the typical blood-red lights that follow the Leon Payne cover at Strings’ live shows, this eerie murder ballad was just as unsettling thanks to Billy’s drawled delivery and the wealth of strings onstage. Those strings were then put to the ultimate test with the expansive and extensive 16-minute “Meet Me at the Creek” that closed the show. Hull was thrown straight into the fire with the pinnacle of Strings’ live jam vehicles, but the world-renowned mandolinist didn’t burn as she fanned the flames with dynamic runs that worked in tandem alongside Walker’s supportive rhythmic playing.
Watch Billy Strings’ full set from Outlaw Music Festival in Chula Vista. Outlaw Fest continues this weekend with stops in L.A. and Wheatland, CA. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.
Billy Strings — North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre — Chula Vista, CA — 5/15/25 — Full Video
[Video: Guy Barnes]
Setlist [via BillyBase.net]: Billy Strings | North Island Credit Union Amphitheatre | Chula Vista, CA | 5/15/25
Set One: Sally Goodin (Traditional), Slow Train (Leroy Drumm, Cal Freeman) > Ruby (Cousin Emmy), Away From The Mire, Be Your Man, Thirst Mutilator [1] > Dust In A Baggie, Cold Cold World (Blaze Foley) [2], 10,000 Miles From A Friend [2] [3], Southern Flavor (Bill Monroe) [4] [5], Psycho (Leon Payne) [4] > Meet Me At The Creek [4]
[1] “If I Only Had a Brain” (Judy Garland) tease
[2] Billy Strings solo
[3] FTP – Original
[4] w/ Sierra Hull on mandolin
[5] Dueling mandolin intro w/Sierra Hull and Jarrod Walker
Train songs: 1