It was an emotional weekend of soul-fulfilling highs and the most devastating of lows for Billy Strings. After returning home to Michigan to headline the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival and jam onstage with his dad Terry Barber on Thursday, Billy Strings arrived in Lexington, KY on Friday morning to find out that his mom had passed away in her sleep. Strings gathered all of his resolve to take the stage that night, and his two sold-out shows at Rupp Arena served as a tribute to Debra Apostol.

“I’m gonna do my best to make it through this,” Strings said, fighting back tears as he addressed the crowd at the start of the show. “This is probably gonna be one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. You know, how tonight’s gonna turn out is kind of up in the air. It all depends on how much strength I can muster and how much I can lean on you all.”

Strings recounted waking up to the crushing news this morning from his wife, and immediately setting out walking until he came across an old country church. In a saga that sounds like the basis for the most earnest of folk songs, Strings sat with a stranger and prayed and wept for his mother.

“It was my decision to carry on with tonight’s show, because that’s what my mom would’ve wanted me to do,” the guitarist explained. “The last couple years were some of her happiest because a lot of you folks right here. And you all became some of her best friends, and I really wanna thank you for that.”

Just like his mother, Strings has come to think of his fanbase as a family, saying, “The reason I decided not to go home and be with my family, is because I already am.” Finally wrapping up his impromptu eulogy, Strings stressed the mutual support that sustains the community that’s built up around him.

“Also, if you’re just casually coming to tonight’s show and you’re like ‘what the f–k is going on right now,’ I’m sorry, but we’re a family here,” he concluded. “If you’re going through some s–t, I’m going through it too and tonight I need you. So, instead of a moment of silence, can you please make as much noise right now for my mom?”

In all of Billy Strings’ years of playing clubs to theaters to arenas to the occasional stadium, there has likely never been (nor ever will be) a roar of applause as loud or as authentic as the one that shook Rupp Arena that night.

Billy Strings — “I’ve Just Seen The Rock Of Ages” (John Preston), “The Fire On My Tongue” > “Bronzeback” [Pro-Shot] — 6/20/25

Friday’s show was filled with tearjerking tributes to the late Debra Apostol, including a gut-wrenching “Here Comes the Sun” that was shattering from the very first notes. Strings followed it up with “Rocky Raccoon” for his devout Beatles fan mother, plus a twofer of “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” and “In Hiding” for the woman who introduced him to Pearl Jam‘s music as a kid.

Billy Strings — “Here Comes The Sun” (The Beatles) — 6/20/25

[Video: MB1 Music]

Billy Strings — “Ready For The Times To Get Better” (Allen Reynolds) — 6/20/25

[Video: MB1 Music]

Songs like “Away From the Mire”, “Ready for the Times to Get Better”, “In the Clear”, the autobiographical “Must Be Seven” about Billy’s troubled upbringing, and “Stratosphere Blues / I Believe In You” all took on overwhelming emotional weight in Friday’s context. Perhaps the toughest blow came with “Enough to Leave” late in the second set, followed by the unguarded solemnity of the “Standing in the Need of Prayer” and “Freedom” encore.

Though emotion still hung heavy in the air on Saturday, Strings soldiered on for the final show of the spring tour. Billy even found levity through his adversity, as technical difficulties with Royal Masat‘s bass forced a nearly ten-minute break early in the set. Strings kept the crowd entertained, bantering with his bandmates through the “testicle difficulties” (as he called them), before the show got back on track with what amounted to be a 16-song first set.

Billy Strings — “Brown’s Ferry Blues” (Delmore Brothers), “Soldier’s Joy” (Traditional), “Roll On Buddy, Roll On” (Traditional), “Sharecropper’s Son” (Stanley Brothers) [Pro-Shot] — 6/21/25
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Despite his pain, Strings was able to lock in with his bandmates Masat, Jarrod Walker, Billy Failing, and Alex Hargreaves for deep dives into “Lumpy, Beanpole & Dirt” and a climactic 20-minute “Meet Me At the Creek” in the second set. Strings followed the Jerry Garcia/David Grisman-favored “Shady Grove” to his own “Highway Hypnosis” before “The Beginning of the End” portended the end of the show, the run, and the spring tour ahead of a “Freeborn Man
and “Gild the Lily” encore.

Billy Strings — “Beanpole, & Dirt” (Bad Livers) > “Everything’s The Same” — 6/21/25

[Video: MB1 Music]

Billy Strings — “Gild The Lily” — 6/21/25

[Video: MB1 Music]

Billy Strings was dealt one of the most painful losses a man can endure on Friday, and he somehow found the strength to take the stage and put himself in service to others. To take the stage at the start of the show and share one’s grief with an audience of over 20,000 took incredible courage and speaks to the humility that has—along with his modern interpretations of bluegrass—made Billy Strings a live music phenomenon. Playing through that pain on Friday proved once again that Billy Strings does not just get up every night and play music; he has the music in him.

Strings is off the road until next month when he goes abroad for his first-ever tour of Australia and New Zealand. In August, he will open for Dead & Company at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco before launching his summer tour of the U.S. and Canada. Find tickets and a full list of tour dates here.

nugs subscribers can replay the entire spring tour and listen to full-show audio. Start streaming on nugs here. Not a subscriber? Get 75% off today with their $5 promo when you order your subscription here. [Editor’s note: Live For Live Music is a nugs affiliate. Ordering your subscription via the links on this page helps to support our work covering the world of live music. Thank you for reading!]

Billy Strings — Rupp Arena — Lexington, KY — 6/20/25 — Full Audio

[Audio: B_Porter]

Billy Strings — Rupp Arena — Lexington, KY — 6/21/25 — Full Audio

[Audio: B_Porter]

Setlist: Billy Strings | Rupp Arena | Lexington, KY | 6/20/25

Set One: I’ve Just Seen The Rock Of Ages (John Preston) [1] [2], The Fire On My Tongue > Bronzeback, Away From The Mire, My Alice, Here Comes The Sun (The Beatles), Rocky Raccoon (The Beatles), Ain’t Nothing To Me (Leon Payne), New Camptown Races (Frank Wakefield), Love and Regret, I’d Like To Be A Train (Leroy Drumm, Pete Goble), Ready For The Times To Get Better (Allen Reynolds), Hide and Seek
Set Two: In the Clear, Walk On Boy (Mels Tillis), Must Be Seven > Pyramid Country, Secrets, Dos Banjos [3], Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You [4], Elderly Woman Behind The Counter In A Small Town (Pearl Jam), In Hiding (Pearl Jam), End Of The Rainbow (Frank Wakefield), Enough To Leave, There Is A Time (The Dillards)
Encore: Standing In The Need Of Prayer (Traditional Spiritual) [5], Freedom [5]

[1] Show opened with the crowd making a lot of noise for Billy’s mom, Debra Apostol, who this show is dedicated to.
[2] Last Time Played 2024-10-18 | 54 show gap
[3] Dos Billys (Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo and Billy Failing on banjo)
[4] Billy Strings on a Martin Grand J-28E, Royal Masat on a Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard & Billy Failing on Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo
[5] Full band around single mic

Train songs: 1

Setlist: Billy Strings | Rupp Arena | Lexington, KY | 6/21/25

Set One: Brown’s Ferry Blues (Delmore Brothers) [1], Soldier’s Joy (Traditional) [2], Roll On Buddy, Roll On (Traditional) [3], Sharecropper’s Son (Stanley Brothers) [4], On The Line > Train 45  (Traditional), While I’m Waiting Here, Long Forgotten Dream, Show Me The Door, Escanaba, The Train That Carried My Girl From Town (Traditional) > Black Mountain Rag (Leslie Keith), Seven Weeks in County, Home, Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt (Bad Livers) [5] > Everything’s The Same
Set Two: Heartbeat Of America, In The Morning Light, Tangled Up In Blue (Bob Dylan), Slow Train (Leroy Drumm, Cal Freeman), Richard Petty [6], If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart (Bobby Davidson) [6], Meet Me At The Creek, Shady Grove (Traditional), Highway Hypnosis, The Beginning of the End
Encore: Freeborn Man, Gild the Lily

[1] Billy Strings solo
[2] Minus Royal
[3] Full band (minus Royal) around single mic
[4] Last Time Played 2024-08-02 | 68 show gap
[5] “Death Trip” (Bad Livers) tease
[6] Full band (minus Alex) around single mic

Train Songs: 3