Billy Strings, photo by Stevo Rood
Billy Strings rolled into Austin, Texas over the weekend for the final performances in a long year on the road. Even seasoned road warriors like Strings and his band of Billy Failing, Alex Hargreaves, Royal Masat and Jarrod Walker heed the call to wind down and take a beat as the new year comes around, and the revered string ensemble leaned into that feeling with a retrospective tone and even demeanor in their last stagings of 2025.
Strings’ return to the Moody Center on Saturday, Dec. 13 was his last full-scale arena show of the year. The quick-picking bluegrass firebrand and his band greeted the Live Music Capital of the World with two sets and a total of 26 tracks, placing a particular emphasis on reliable originals, which accounted for 16 songs. The group stormed the spotlight with Renewal essential “Red Daisy,” then lit up “California Sober” before a cover of Jeff Austin’s “Run Down.”
Alongside other Strings-penned standards like “Running,” “Don’t Be Calling Me (at 4 AM), “Dust In a Baggie,” “Home,” “Know It All,” “Richard Petty,” the first frame closing “Gild the Lily” and second set opening segued pairing of “Taking Water” and “Ice Bridges,” the group scattered covers like Jimi Hendrix’s “Love and Confusion,” the Emmitt-Nershi Band’s “New Country Blues,” Jim Croce’s “Age,” tex Williams’ “Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette” and Jonathan Edwards’ “How Long Have I Been Waiting On You?,” performed for the first time since December 2024. After the fake-out final of “Meet Me At The Creek,” embellished with a tease of John Hartford’s “Presbyterian Guitar,” Strings wrapped on an encore of “Drifter’s Escape.”
On Sunday night, Strings moved from the 15,000 capacity Moody Center to the 2,750 capacity room of ACL Live at The Moody Theater. In line with their intimate surroundings, the band opted to sit in a ring at center stage, embracing a tight-knit setup to facilitate close instrumental communication. The bandleader christened the space with a few words on memory, his family, and the resilience of folk musical traditions, then raced into “Ridin’ That Midnight Train.” An easeful air ran through the ensuing set, which focused heavily on traditional covers and featured Masat on “Whitey,” his electric jazz bass guitar.
Strings’ mix for his final show of 2025 featured a staggering eight track resurrections, with last-played dates ranging from the beginning of the year to back in 2020. These unexpected inclusions were The Country Centlemen’s “Bringing Mary Home” (LTP March 2024); “The Preacher & The Bear” (LTP Dec. 2024); The Stanley Brothers’ “Nobody’s Love Is Like Mine” (LTP Feb. 2025); Larry Sparks’ “Natural Thing to Do” (LTP Aug. 2024) and “A Face In The Crowd” (LTP Dec. 2023); Strings’ original “These Memories Of You” (LTP Feb. 2025); “Blue Virginia Blues” (LTP March 2025) and finally Flatt & Scruggs’ “Cora Is Gone” (LTP July 2020). To cap off a fitting finale to another triumphant year, Strings and his band landed on the traditional “We Shall All Be Reunited.”
Strings won’t stray from the stage for long, with a nearly sold-out nine-show run through Athens, Ga., Asheville, N.C. and Nashville, Tenn. set for Feb. 6 to Feb. 22. Find tickets and more information on his full live itinerary at billystrings.com/tour.
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