Billy Strings review: Bluegrass artist honors late mother in moving Rupp concert

For all the bragging rights he has earned by selling out Rupp Arena on two consecutive nights two years in a row, Billy Strings took the stage Friday evening in remarkably unceremonious fashion. But there was a reason for that.

Arriving centerstage at Rupp minus his band and, more conspicuously, without a guitar, the biggest current deal in bluegrass music by several country miles politely thanked the crowd for attending and extended a quiet appreciation for how he considered his fanbase an extended family. He then told the crowd his mother had died earlier in the day.

That sobering — and, frankly, shocking — bit of news was delivered with no over embellished emotion. It came off, oddly enough, almost as an apology. He confessed to the honest and unavoidable difficulty in performing under such circumstances, but stressed his mother would have wanted him to finish out the final dates of his spring tour (after the second of his Rupp shows on Saturday, Strings is off the road until mid-July.) More thanks to the crowd followed, along with a quick remembrance of how his mother enjoyed watching him perform.

Another nod to the familial ties Strings sees between artist and audience concluded the introduction, but not before the guitarist answered a question he felt some might be asking. Specifically, why wasn’t he with his family at a time of such sudden and extreme loss?

“That’s because I already am,” he said, motioning to the fanbase before him.

With that, the music commenced not with one of Strings’ warp-speed bluegrass joyrides or a journey into the jams that give an electric Baptism to his acoustic, roots-inspired songs, but with a slice of redemptive gospel. Specifically, the kickoff tune was “I’ve Just Seen the Rock of Ages,” a song that reaches back to the repertoires of Ralph Stanley and Larry Sparks. Fittingly, it was delivered with a rustic, yet reserved command that nicely fit the antique contours of a voice that reflected a soul possessed by someone far older and more world worn than the 31-year old Strings.

While the evening that unfolded from there was by no means dour, a mood was cast. References to motherhood within the two-set, two-and-half hour performance abounded (not exactly a thematic stretch for bluegrass, mind you.) There were generous examples of traditions that fueled Strings’ music, along with shades of the modern accents that have popularized such sounds to a generation raised as much on groove as grass. Still, this was a performance where the drive and beauty revolved around introspection.

The setlist’s array of original tunes focused almost exclusively from 2019’s “Home” album, 2021’s “Renewal” and 2024’s “Highway Prayers.” The shifts of tempo and temperament during “Away from the Mire” (off of “Home”) reflected a bittersweet cast colored by spacious runs from fiddler Alex Hargreaves. An almost orchestral spaciousness made his playing seem less inclined toward bluegrass and more in league with the progressive jazz leanings of violinist Jean Luc Ponty before the full improvisational might of Strings’ entire band was unlocked.

Similarly, the pairing of “Stratosphere Blues” and “I Believe in You” (a highlight medley from “Highway Prayers”) let Strings construct a groove almost respiratory in nature that unwound with a grace that fell somewhere between poetic and pensive.

While the onstage instrumentation throughout the concert bore the acoustic ground plan of a traditional bluegrass quintet, save for a small keyboard sparingly utilized by bassist Royal Masat for synth-like support, Strings regularly employed electric mimicry through pedals and effects to make his acoustic guitar roar with a level of rock-savvy grit that complimented the agility and speed that have long been trademarks of his playing. Such voicings fortified some of the evening’s most substantial jams, especially an epic instrumental voyage that linked “Must Be Seven” (from “Home”) to “Secrets” (off of “Renewal”) during the first half of the evening’s second set.

As is usual with Strings’ performances, cover tunes were plentiful, several of which were enlisted from ranks far removed from bluegrass.

The first set called upon back-to-back Beatles classics from the late ’60s — a remarkably efficient and faithful take of “Here Comes the Sun” that prefaced what was one of the evening’s few overtly playful moments, a sly reading of “Rocky Racoon.” The latter unexpectedly revealed a roll call of narrative props that any vintage bluegrass work would be proud to stake a claim to — namely, guns, bodily injury and a Bible.

The second set directly referenced Strings’ mother. The guitarist said she taught a song to him that led to a win at a 4th grade talent contest and, curiously, his first press recognition. A bluegrass entry, you say? Nope. It was Pearl Jam’s lovely but desolate “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town.” Another PJ gem, the far more claustrophobic “In Hiding,” followed.

The evening ended with an encore that placed Strings and his band around a single centerstage microphone for two emancipatory confessionals, one vintage (the African-American spiritual “Standing in the Need of Prayer”), the other original (another “Home” tune, “Freedom.”)

But the evening’s most moving moment, mostly because it so caringly addressed the sense of loss at hand, came earlier in the evening when Strings switched instruments to join bandmate Billy Failing in a stark duet of the aptly named “Dos Banjos.” Instrumental flexing was absent entirely from the tune, allowing the human immediacy of lyrics penned by Strings over a decade ago to glow.

“My mama said, ‘Make many friends

They’ll give to you, you’ll give to them

And care not for that money, son

Just care for music, friends and fun”

And that Strings did.

A footnote to this extraordinary performance: the Summer Solstice officially arrived Friday evening at 10:42 p.m., just as Strings and his band concluded “Enough to Leave,” a ruminative cry-for-mercy tune from “Home.” An evening that began in unanticipated darkness came to rest as the season of warmth and light arrived. Just in time, you might say.

Billy Strings

When: June 21 at 7:30 p.m.

Where: Rupp Arena, 430 W. Vine.

Tickets: The concert is sold out.

This story was originally published June 21, 2025 at 7:48 AM.