Photo: Stevo Rood

Billy Strings turned in two performances over the weekend. The concerts arrived after the Michigan-bred guitarist ignited the Universal Monsters theme during his Halloween show at the CFG Bank Arena in Baltimore. The five-piece followed up the night after, November 1, with aid from members of Leftover Salmon, before their latest live return. On Friday, November 7, Strings and his band took the stage at the PPG Paints Arena for the first time, delivering songbook standards alongside revived selections that struck a traditional chord and evoked the prominence of contemporary bluegrass and this group’s instrumental repartee.  

Like a train on the tracks, Billy Strings chugged into the station, the musician and his band, Billy Failing, Royal Masat, Jarrod Walker, and Alex Hargreaves commenced the night on “I’m One of Those,” an original that debuted on May 16, 2025, during the Outlaw Country Tour stop at the Hollywood Bowl. The ensemble picked up “Turmoil & Tinfoil” and “Happy Hollow” before performing the first borrowed song of the night, Ralph Stanley and The Clinch Mountain Boys’ “I Only Exist.” Back to the originals, the group bolstered “Running the Route” and amalgamated it with “Hollow Heart,” before receiving applause and reacting with “10,000 Miles From a Friend.” 

A cover of “Ernest T. Grass” ran into “How Mountain Girls Can Love,” before the group paused, only to fill the remainder of set one with “Long Forgotten Dream” and “Slow Train.” After half-time, the band returned with their own “In the Clear,” before covering Gordon Lightfoot’s “Whispers of the North” for the first time since August 24, 2024, ending a 97-show gap. The group filled their time with “Libby Phillips Rag,” “Must Be Seven,” which came before a potent delivery of “While I’m Waiting Here” into “Meet Me at the Creek,” and “Stratosphere Blues/I Believe in You.” 

Another pair of originals held the space between the latter and “Rank Stanger,” before Jerry Reed’s “Like of Me” pulled a likeness to the Tony Rice rendition. “Secrets” featured a tease of “Pyramid Country,” but not a complete siege; instead, the band [minus Heargraves] stood together around a single mic for the final offerings of Friday’s gig: “Secrets,” “Richard Petty” and the first “Katy Daly” since February 28, 2025, ending a 65-show performance gap. 

The band returned to the  PPG Paints Arena stage on Saturday, November 8, 2025, with another batch of originals and covers, including traditional/ Doc Watson-inspired “Let The Cocaine Be” for the first time since August 3, 2024, putting an end to the 103-show performance gap. Where night one mentioned “hollow” twice during the first set, by way of “Happy Hollow” and “Hollow Heart,” Strings capped night two’s initial frame with the Dead-associated “Dark Hollow.” 

The second set covered a range of materials that touched on live staples and fused pairs, including “Taking on Water” > “Running,” followed by stand-alones, “Show Me the Door,” and the first full band performance of “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette.” Notably, Strings performed the Tex Williams original solo on Sept. 5, 2025, before Saturday night’s return and subsequent multi-player performance. After the band’s debut, they carried through with a sequence that consisted of “Doin’ Things Right,” Monroe’s “Southern Flavor,” and Jimi Hendrix’s “Love or Confusion.” 

For their final Pittsburgh deliveries, the group played their own “Dust in a Baggie,” followed by an encore that consisted of “Make Me a Pallet On Your Floor” and “Y’all Come.” Billy Strings will return to the stage as a part of his ongoing Fall Tour tomorrow night, November 11, at the Blue Cross Arena in Rochester. The concert is sold out. 

For more information on the group’s live schedule, visit www.billystrings.com/tour. 

View this weekend’s setlists below.

Billy Strings 

PPG Paint Arena – Pittsburgh

November 7, 2025 

Set I: I’m One Of Those, Turmoil & Tinfoil, Happy Hollow, I Only Exist, Running The Route > Hollow Heart, 10,000 Miles From A Friend, Ernest T. Grass > How Mountain Girls Can Love, Long Forgotten Dream, Slow Train

Set II: In the Clear, Whispers Of The North1, Libby Phillips Rag, Must Be Seven, While I’m Waiting Here > Meet Me At The Creek, Stratosphere Blues / I Believe in You2, Seney Stretch. Don’t Be Calling Me (at 4 AM), Rank Stranger, Likes Of Me > Secrets3, Richard Petty4, Katy Daley5,6

Notes:

  1. Last Time Played 2024-08-24 | 97 show gap
  2. 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
  3. “Pyramid County” fake-out intro
  4. Full band (minus Alex) around single mic
  5. Full band around single mic
  6. Last Time Played 2025-02-28 | 65 show gap

Billy Strings 

PPG Paint Arena – Pittsburgh

November 8, 2025 

Set I: Leaning on a Travelin’ Song, Hellbender, This Old World, The House Carpenter, Let The Cocaine Be1, Love and Regret, Lumpy, Beanpole, & Dirt, Everything’s The Same, Psycho > Hide and Seek, Love Like Me, Dark Hollow

Set II: Red Daisy, Doin’ My Time, Escanaba, Highway Hypnosis, Wait a Minute, Taking Water > Running, Show Me The Door, Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette2, Doin’ Things Right > Southern Flavor > Love Or Confusion, Dust In A Baggie

Enc.: Make Me A Pallet On Your Floor, Y’all Come

Notes:

  1. Last Time Played 2024-08-03 | 103 show gap
  2. FTP w/ full band

Setlist and notes via billybase.net.