“I’ve been seeing this fella for quite some time and admiring his guitar playing. And what better place to make an acquaintance than Tipitina’s? Nice to meet you, Taz,” Billy Strings said to the NOLA crowd on May 1, after jamming “Funky Bitch” and “Willin'” with the 16-year-old’s guitarist.

“We also figured if we’re going to have him play electric guitar all over a bunch of bluegrass stuff, we might as well try to see what happens if he plays on one of our tunes,” Strings added before the collective jumped into a set-closing version of “Meet Me At The Creek.”

The aforementioned “Funky Bitch” was a live debut for Strings’ namesake outlet, which has rapidly become one of the bluegrass world’s rising stars.

Ealier in the evening, the band also welcomed blues musician Cedric Burnside, who opened the show, to add acoustic guitar on “Lonesome Valley” and additional vocals on “Me & The Devil Blues.” The latter tune also acted as a live debut for Billy Strings.

Later on, before the band left the stage at Tipitina’s, they were sure to keep Taz around for an encore of the Allman Brothers “Midnight Rider.”

Watch the full Cedric Burnside/Billy Strings show and check out the full setlist as it appears in our Box Scores section below (Niederauer’s sit-in starts around a little before the four-hour mark):

Billy Strings
May 1, 2019
Tipitina’s, New Orleans

Set I: Pyramid Country> Little Maggie+, While I’m Waiting Here, Stone Walls and Steel Bars, New Camptown Races> Unwanted Love, Lonesome Valley^, Me & The Devil Blues^@, Home Of The Red Fox> My Sweet Blue Eyed Darlin’, Ain’t Nothing To Me, Turmoil And Tinfoil

Set II: Slow Train, Red Rocking Chair> EFG> Hollow Heart, So Many Miles, Black Clouds, Funky Bitch$@, Willin’$, Meet Me At The Creek$*

Enc: Midnight Rider $

^ with Cedric Burnside
+ Playing In The Band tease
@ first time played
$ w/ Brandon ‘Taz’ Niederauer
* Norwegian Wood tease