Billy Strings Welcomes Béla Fleck at The Mother Church in Nashville

Photo: Stevo Rood

Last night, Billy Strings united with bluegrass veteran Béla Fleck at The Mother Church of Country Music in Nashville for a series of songs during the concert’s first half. The team-up arrived amid the latest stop on Strings’ trio tour with Bryan Sutton and bassist Royal Masat, after the ensemble turned in their final night on the Schaefer Center for the Performing Arts stage in Boone, N.C., where they made a habit out of dusting off material that had previously been left idle. 

Before arriving in Music City, the group delivered their second and final appearance in the Tar Heel State. Like night one, the concert flowed with appreciation for the classics, allowing Strings and Sutton separate opportunities to showcase their affinity for the genre and demonstrate their expertise in adapting others’ material into their repertoire. Set one saw Strings and Sutton each led numbers, songs marked as covers, and more often than not, highly regarded traditionals. 

During the initial offering, Strings returned to “Texas Gale” for the first time since Dec. 13, 2024, putting to bed a 64-show gap in performances. They resumed the tactic of pulling in previously shelved songs during the concert’s second half, including a take on “Wagoner’s Lad,” played by a solo Strings on banjo, to kick off the latter portion of the concert. The same stats that applied to “Texas Gale” represented the return of “Wagoner’s Lad.”

Later on, Sutton’s lead on “Deep River Blues” ended a 199-show gap in arrivals, last played on April 13, 2023. The musicians gave similar treatment to “Moody River,” which had been collecting dust since February. Ultimately, before turning in their final set, the trio performed a first-time cover, “Corrina, Corrina,” in the spirit of Mississippi John Hurt, which represented a debut. 

On Sunday evening, the group returned to the stage, only this time, Nashville’s historic grounds at the Ryman Auditorium. Set one began as a standard offering of bluegrass classics, before a master of the craft and prior collaborator, Fleck, turned up and contributed on six selected numbers, beginning with Bob Dylan’s “Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright.” The fused group of players dug deeper into the past through the arrival of Carter Stanley-penned “The Old Home.” 

The ensemble and their veteran guest also returned to Carson Robison’s “Life Get Tee – Jus, Don’t It,” which debuted during night one in Boone. Doc Watson’s “St. James Hospital,” “Nothing to It,” and associated cover, “We Shall All Be Reunited,” represented the final catch, after casting a line and reeling in odes to the flat picking godfather. 

While the group’s second set at the Ryman did not include guest arrivals, it did unleash even more sage covers that demonstrated each player’s virtuoso-level understanding and appreciation for the craft. Before turning in their latest gig, Strings, Sutton, and Masat nodded to the location with an encore of the Watson-released “Nashville Blues.”

After Sunday’s performance, Strings and company will return to the hallowed Nashville auditorium this evening, Monday, September 15. Tickets are sold out. 

Scroll down to view setlists from this weekend’s concerts. 

Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton with Royal Masat

Shaefer Center for the Performing Arts – Boone, N.C.

Sept. 12, 2025

Set I: Way Downtown1 Shady Grove Billy In The Lowground Texas Gales2 Solid Gone1 Blue Railroad Train Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette The Old Home1 Look Up, Look Down That Lonesome Road If I Needed You1 Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright Darling Corey1 Open Up Them Pearly Gates

Set II: Otto Wood The Bandit3 Wagoner’s Lad4,5 What Does The Deep Sea Say?1,6 Watson Blues6 Don’t Let Your Deal Go Down Deep River Blues1,7 Moody River8 Talking to Casey Poor Boy Blues The House Carpenter Little Darling Pal Of Mine Bill Cheatham Big Sandy River Corrina, Corrina9 South Coast Nights In White Satin The Train That Carried My Girl From Town1 Black Mountain Rag

Enc.: And Am I Born To Die?10 We Shall All Be Reunited Summertime New River Train

Notes:

1. Bryan Sutton on lead vocals
2. Last Time Played 2024-12-13 | 64 show gap
3. Billy Strings solo
4. Billy Strings solo on banjo
5. Last Time Played 2024-12-13 | 64 show gap
6. Duet w/ Billy Strings on guitar & Bryan Sutton on mandolin
7. Last Time Played 2023-04-13 | 199 show gap
8. Last Time Played 2025-02-21 | 50 show gap
9. FTP – Charlie McCoy & Bo Chatman
10. Billy Strings solo a cappella

Billy Strings, Bryan Sutton with Royal Masat

Ryman Auditorium – Nashville

Sept. 14, 2025

Set I: Way Downtown1 Shady Grove Little Darling Pal Of Mine1 Salty Sheep Walk On Boy There’s More Pretty Girls Than One Summertime Southbound1 If I Needed You1 Don’t Think Twice, It’s Alright2 The Old Home1,2 Life Gets Tee – Jus, Don’t It2 St. James Hospital2 Nothing To It2 We Shall All Be Reunited2

Set II: Country Blues3 Frosty Morn4 Talking to Casey Poor Boy Blues Miss The Mississippi And You What Does The Deep Sea Say?1,5 Beaumont Rag Alberta Smoke, Smoke, Smoke That Cigarette The Train That Carried My Girl From Town1 Black Mountain Rag St. Louis Blues Darling Corey Moody River South Coast Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar1

Enc.: Solid Gone1 Nashville Blues

Notes: 

1. Bryan Sutton on lead vocals
2. w/ Bela Fleck on banjo
3. Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
4. Duet w/ Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo & Bryan Sutton on guitar
5. Bryan Sutton on mandolin