photo: Madison Dodd
Last night Billy Strings appeared at the PeoplesBank Arena in Hartford, CT. Strings and his band have been routing through New England, on a tour that will next take them to the Bethel Woods Center for the Arts in Bethel, NY on Friday and Saturday.
Tuesday’s show featured some song debuts and shared vocal responsibilities. The evening began with a lively “Cabin Song,” followed by a pairing of Carter Stanley’s “The Lonesome River” with a 10-minute take on “Home.” The quintet then revisited Grandpa Jones’ “It’s Raining Here This Morning” for the first time since 7/29/23. Other first set highlights include a twinned “Malfunction Junction” and “How Mountain Girls Can Love,” a 13-minute “Gild the Lily,” and a closing run from “Sally Johnson” into “Dust In A Baggie.”
The second set offered a range of sounds and perspectives, as Strings handed off lead vocals to his bandmates on three tunes. Billy Failing sang John Hartford’s “Steam Powered Aereo Plane.” Jarrod Walker took command on his own “Nighthawk.” Finally, Royal Masat offered up Marty Stuart’s “Old Mexico,” which the group last performed on 6/11/25, a 79 show gap. The five-piece also debuted The Carter Family’s “Sad and Lonesome Day” as well as “Thinking Right,” an Elmer Russell song long associated with Larry Sparks. In addition to all of this, the set opened with 12-miniute version of “Highway Hypnosis” and also included an extended take on Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up in Blue.” .
The evening concluded with a run from band originals “Taking Water” and “Running The Route,” into the Roger Bowling and Jody Emerson number “Dig A Little Deeper In The Well,” which the group last played 111 shows ago on 2/7/25.
