Billy Strings capped off his historic six-night, two-weekend stay in Asheville, NC on Sunday with a climactic finale featuring multiple big jams and a guest appearance from guitarist Jon Stickley. With all six shows in the books, it’s now official that Strings completed the entire run without any repeats: playing 154 unique songs across the 12 sets.

It wasn’t until the last show that Strings finally relented and played his most popular song, as “Dust in a Baggie” sounded off as the starting gun for the final leg of the marathon at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena. A highlight for Billy and the audience alike came midway through the set, as Strings admitted, “We’re not gonna waste too much time, we’re just gonna go ahead and get Jon Stickley right out here.” The local Asheville guitarist, leader of the Jon Stickley Trio, and longtime friend of Strings filed in alongside Billy’s regular sidemen Billy Failing, Jarrod Walker, Royal Masat, and Alex Hargreaves for a lengthy hunt for the “Home of the Red Fox”.

Billy Strings — “Dust In A Baggie”, “Hellbender”, “This Heart Of Mine” (New Grass Revival) [Pro-Shot] — 2/16/25

Given Stickley’s presence, the ensuing 15-minute telling particularly focused on the six-string interplay between Strings and Stickley. Bluegrass is a team sport, however, and Billy Failing was integral in giving the jam legs that kept it going into double-digit minutes. There was no slowing down with Stickley in tow, and the momentum led the band crashing into a “Little Maggie” crescendo. Stickley hung around for the traditional “I’ve Been All Around This World” and Bill Monroe‘s “Big Mon” before leaving the core Billy Strings fivesome to run through “Rank Stranger”, Highway Prayers standout “Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You” which defied tradition by bringing a keyboard (played by Masat) into a bluegrass show, and “Old Man at the Mill”. To polish off the first set, Strings and company again dug deep for a slow-burning “All Fall Down” which would prove to be the second of five 13+ minute songs of the evening.

For the final set of the residency, Strings opened with “Everything’s the Same”—the live staple that is regularly proven wrong as Billy continues ascending to new heights. With each visit back to Asheville or wherever he may roam, Strings brings upgraded production equipment, new songs, and his prodigiously progressing chops which make his shows better and better each time. Everything wasn’t the same as Strings dusted off Bill Monroe‘s “Blue Grass Breakdown” for the first time since 2023, and took his first “Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The)” in 51 shows straight into a huge “Doin’ Things Right” that became an improvisational centerpiece of the weekend.

The Turmoil & Tinfoil favorite has seen a multi-year development into a reliable jam vehicle, from humble nine-minute beginnings pre-pandemic to consistent 14-minute tellings nowadays. The foot-stomping vamp stuck fairly close to the composed form, with Masat and Walker giving Strings a sturdy platform for some fretboard pyrotechnics—blasting off into a spacey jam at the end before rocketing back to the hook. A “Shackles & Chains” breather was balanced out by a thrilling twofer of “Slow Train” (the night’s only train song) into “On the Line”. Newly christened Highway Prayers jam vehicle “Gild the Lily” received a roar of approval from the audience, and those who thought it would be the final big jam of the evening were pleasantly surprised when, after “The Beginning of the End”, “Meet Me at the Creek” came barrelling through the speakers. The all-time improvisational springboard was earmarked best for last, as it combined everything that has made Billy Strings a cross-genre sensation: hair-raising electric guitar effects, traditional bluegrass flatpicking, and a top-shelf backing band with him all the way.

Billy Strings — “Meet Me At The Creek” — 2/16/25 — Partial Video

[Video: Timothy O’Malley]

Coming back for the encore, Strings brought Jon Stickley back out for some local support on “Y’all Come”. And with that, the run was over. Six sold-out shows, over 40,000 tickets, hours of music, and an economic boom whose impact on the city cannot be overstated. As someone more quick-witted than I remarked, Asheville needed Billy far more than Billy needed Asheville. These two weekends brought the city back to life, with tens of thousands of fans doing their part—just as they did inside the venue by completing the energetic circuit that kept the ExploreAsheville.com Arena buzzing for a week straight. Here’s hoping Strings will be back next February for a third straight year, cementing his winter visit to Asheville as an annual tradition.

Next up for Strings is a two-night visit to Atlanta’s State Farm Arena on February 21st and 22nd. Find tickets and a full list of Billy Strings tour dates here. 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’ Asheville run: Thursday, February 6th | Friday, February 7th | Saturday, February 8th | Friday, February 14th | Sunday, February 16th (you’re reading it).

Billy Strings — ExploreAsheville.com Arena — Asheville, NC — 2/16/25 — Full Audio

Setlist [via BillyBase]: Billy Strings | ExploreAsheville.com Arena | Asheville, NC | 2/16/25

Set One: Dust In A Baggie, Hellbender, This Heart Of Mine (New Grass Revival) > Dealing Despair, Home Of The Red Fox (Bill Emerson) [1] > Little Maggie (Traditional) [1], I’ve Been All Around This World (Traditional) [1], Big Mon (Bill Monroe) [1], Rank Stranger (The Stanley Brothers & The Clinch Mountain Boys) [2], Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You [3], Old Man At The Mill (Clarence Ashley) > All Fall Down (John Hartford)
Set Two: Everything’s The Same > Blue Grass Breakdown (Bill Monroe) [4], Show Me The Door, Tentacle Dragon (Revenge Of The) (Béla Fleck) [5] > Doin’ Things Right [6], Shackles & Chains (Jimmie Davis) [7], Slow Train (Leroy Drumm, Cal Freeman) > On The Line, Gild the Lily [8], The Beginning of the End, Meet Me At The Creek
Encore: Y’all Come (Arlie Duff) [1]

[1] w/ Jon Stickley on guitar
[2] Last Time Played 2024-04-21 | 52 show gap
[3] Billy Strings on a Martin 12-String HD12-28, Royal Masat on a Nord Stage 3 88-Key Keyboard & Billy Failing on Masterton ML-1: Missing Link Béla Fleck Baritone Banjo
[4] Last Time Played 2023-10-31 | 87 show gap
[5] Last Time Played 2024-04-26 | 51 show gap
[6] “Use Me” (Bill Withers) tease
[7] Last Time Played 2024-02-16 | 65 show gap
[8] “The Other One” (Grateful Dead) tease

Train songs: 1