Billy Strings returned to Denver, CO’s Mission Ballroom on Saturday night for the third of four consecutive shows. The performance saw a sit-in from String Cheese Incident‘s Bill Nershi on acoustic guitar, as well as a cover debut of Jerry Garcia‘s “Mission in the Rain”.
Strings kicked off his two-set performance with three tracks off his 2021 album, Renewal. First came “Fire Line”, which segued into “Running the Route” and set up “Hellbender”. This run of Renewal tracks set up a four-song run of covers starting with Eddie Noack‘s “Psycho”. Next came a cover of The Dillards‘ “Ernest T. Grass”, which Strings and his band segued into a cover of The Stanley Brothers‘ “How Mountain Girls Can Love”, followed by a debut of Bill Anderson‘s “In Case You Ever Change Your Mind”.
Related: Billy Strings Reaches Top Spot On Billboard’s “Emerging Artists” Chart With ‘Renewal’ LP
Next came the original, “Bronzeback”, followed by the title track to his 2019 album, Home. To close the first frame, Strings linked a cover of Hot Rize‘s “Midnight on the Highway” with his Home track “Everything’s The Same”, followed by a set-ending cover of Bill Monroe and the Bluegrass Boys‘ “Bluegrass Breakdown”.
Billy Strings – “Home” – 10/16/21
[Video: Soulshine67]
Billy Strings opened up set two with “Pyramid Country”, the only Turmoil & Tinfoil song of the night. “Pyramid Country” then segued to a traditional cover of “Little Maggie”, which set up two more Renewal tracks, “Leaders” and “Know It All”.
Midway through set two saw Bill Nershi join Billy Strings on stage. Nershi and Strings, combined with banjo player Billy Failing, thus created Bill-cubed, and it was only fitting for the group to play three tracks together. First came “Restless Wind”, from SCI’s 1998 album, ‘Round the Wheel. Up next was a cover of Onus B. Johnson‘s “Purple Strains (Earl’s Song)”, which SCI has played throughout the years. Finally, the sit-in concluded with a romp through SCI’s Carnival ’99 track, “Black Clouds”.
Billy Strings w/Bill Nershi – “Restless Wind” – 10/16/21
[Video: It’s Junior]
Following Nershi’s departure, Billy Strings had another surprise in store for the Mission Ballroom crowd: namely, a new cover debut. The penultimate song in the second set saw Strings and his band debut a cover of the appropriately titled Jerry Garcia song, “Mission in the Rain”.
Billy Strings – “Mission in the Rain” – 10/16/21
[Video: Mic Lipp]
Billy Strings closed the second set of night three at Mission Ballroom with the oft-performed cover of John Hartford‘s “All Fall Down” before returning for an encore cover of Arlie Duff‘s “Y’all Come”.
Below, check out an audio recording of the entire performance and scroll down for a complete setlist from the show. Billy Strings will continue his run at the Mission Ballroom tonight, before continuing his fall tour on Halloween weekend in Asheville, NC. Scroll down for a full list of tour dates and head here for tickets and more information.
Billy Strings – Mission Ballroom – Denver, CO – 10/16/21
[Audio: Rob O’Brien]