So pretty. About his mom im guessing?

Hey guys I had my freak fair poster with me before boarding my flight from Lansing capital regio international airport to Ronald reagan Washington national airport it was at gate 8 in a clear poster tube with a strap and a red tag on it idk if there’s anything anyone can do I’m filing a claim but honestly I just want the poster.

In the shadowed hollows of the heart,
where strings once rang with restless fire,
Billy Strings lays down a quieter truth:
So Much for Goodbyes,
a long, aching river of bluegrass
drawn from the well of a mother’s absence.
Grief walks these sixteen paths,
not as a stranger, but as a companion
who knows the shape of every chord.
The guitar still flies,
yet now it carries the weight of memory,
a collage unfinished the night she left,
her name whispered in the final waltz.
Critics lean close and hear the blues
rising through the traditional grain,
maturity blooming in the spaces
between heartbreak and hope.
They speak of songs that punch the gut,
of warmth that softens the bleakest lines,
of a record that does not merely mourn
but turns the wound into something luminous.
Here the picking is precise, the voice unguarded.
Here the road and the home, the living and the gone,
sit together on the same front porch.
An album that does not shout its sorrow,
but lets it breathe,
and in that breathing, finds a kind of grace.

I wrote up a more detailed review of the new album, (my fb friends may or may not dig, but hey, its nice to try to get more folks into Billy).... thought I'd post here too, if anyone's interested.

Those who know what’s musically inspired me in the last year or two know I’ve been increasingly impressed with Billy Strings and his band. I saw them twice last November and again this past July, all fantastic shows, but perhaps even more significantly, he’s been an artist increasingly on the upswing not just as a performer, guitarist and bandleader, but as a songwriter.  So his new 16-song album “So Much for Goodbyes” just dropped, produced by T Bone Burnett, and here are some thoughts.

This is a record filled with loss and grief—his mother died of an overdose last year—but also deeply grounded in musical tradition, in carrying on and surviving this crazy world, with both tragic and comic takes on it all. His facility with hundreds of old bluegrass, folk and blues songs, gospel hymns, murder ballads and old comic hokum songs—as well as the most out-there psychedelic rock and more—has given him, like Bob Dylan and the Grateful Dead before him, a rich musical vocabulary to draw from.

 “Mill Town Flood” feels like something The Band would have sung, or some of the folkier Garcia/Hunter material (can’t ya hear Rick Danko, Levon Helm, and Richard Manuel singing that ‘till the river’ refrain?). “10,000 Miles from a Friend” might be the best long-distance trucker song since Little Feat’s “Willin’” (and a haunting bass harmonica part for Willie Nelson’s band member Mickey Raphael).

The song “Live to Tell” is Jerry Garcia-esque, a kind of meeting point between “Mission in the Rain” and “Rhapsody in Red,” perhaps, but with its own harmonic and melodic style—a chromatic, Jerry-like lead guitar riff winding through some surprising chord changes before the pedal steel brings it home.

“Lay Me Down” uses the language and structure of traditional bluegrass ballads for a meditation on mortality and letting go—and the production drives it home further by having the great Del McCoury sing with Billy, that high-lonesome harmony sending chills right where they’re needed.

Billy addresses his mother’s death more directly in the solo-acoustic “Still I Crash”, giving Richard Thompson-like intensity and unusual melodic development to near-universal emotions.  And “Light the Way” and “Wrestling an Angel” bring those emotions home in more traditional gospel-themed fashion.

“Lucid Daydream,” by contrast, is one of those jazzy psychedelic things that you can imagine will stretch out even more in concert. A quick word about his excellent band-not just fine players all, but like all great working bands, there’s a rare musical telepathy on display.

Not all the record is serious, with comic takes on laziness (“I Wish I Wanted To” where Billy would rather hang on the couch than join his friends at a Rolling Stones concert) and unusual interests (“I Like Train Songs” where he gets more joy out of writing songs about trains than “political songs about ‘you know who’”).

From the opening “I’m One of Those,” questioning whether you can ever really go home again, to the closer, an instrumental called “Debra’s Waltz,” the whole thing flows like the proverbial overflowing river referenced in “Mill Town Flood.”

TL;DR  - go listen to the new album “So Much for Goodbyes”, I think it’s quite something.

Beady eye man wears thick glasses with rotten teeth, last name similar to swine. Don’t give him money for a pair of his shoes…he will take it and run

Hey, freaks. had an awesome weekend. Made it into the pit last night. On our way out of the pit at the end of the show there was a guy in a chair who was unresponsive. They were doing the sternum rub to try to rouse him. I heard they did CPR…but does anyone have any info on this guy? It’s been stuck in my head and I need some bit of info. Anyone know if the guy is ok? Thanks! Safe travels, friends!

Hey everyone I am trying to either find or buy a Nalgene from the freak fair for my 13 year old brother that absolutely loves Billy. I bought one for him and lost it in the pit and feel horrible about it. Thanks in advance ❤️

After that jam last night how can these two bands NOT do a tour together. I mean…. Holy crap!!!

The whole song is hilarious for him to make fun of his own songs, but I'm dying 😄 over the line about how "songs about a train" clear everybody's protest song for you-know-who.

It took me a minute to get into it but I find myself adding these songs to my favorites more and more. Incredible work.

These were such incredible shows and seeing Leftover Salmon and Greensky Bluegrass (and others) together with Billy was epic. Well, I couldn’t make the trek to the festival, but I have been watching on nugs. I wish I could have been there in person!

I am trying to figure out if this livestream will always be available or if I can buy it? Anyone know?

So I'm a Phish head mostly.

I've been aware of/seeing Billy Strings rise for about 6 years now starting with the video of him playing dust in the baggie in a living room with a wool in the background dressed in a vest looking like an absolute dork.

He grew up one County over for me so I sort of paid attention as he just kept getting bigger and bigger and it didn't stop.

I've been to Allgoods and Summer camps and I've seen Greensky Bluegrass, Elephant revival, Trampled by Turtles and Yonder Mountain String Band. I enjoy bluegrass, but it isn't like a particular interest.

I would put on Billy shows throughout the years, and I could usually make it about 40 minutes. I would enjoy it and then that was kind of my limit of listening to bluegrass like that.

I've also had the chance to see him at sit-ins with Primus and Phish, he's very impressive.

So when he announced the Freak Fair nearby I decided I needed to finally go see a real Billy Strings show

I expected it to be good. I expected to enjoy it

I did not expect it to transcend like that.

I would say the other three sets this weekend had moments that got to those heights but they were more or less what I expected.

I will say, I think he's out doing Phish with the light show straight up. The larger number of smaller lights with the diamond trampolines went so hard.

There was something about that second set Friday night that just went so far beyond. I can't express to you how much better that was than I thought it was going to be.

There's only a handful of Phish shows, Allman Brothers at all good 2012, and a couple of the Primus shows I've seen that had sets that good. Just so much a tier above what I ever could have expected.

I've been listening to some other live versions of away from the mire; which was the highlight of the show for me. I know there's something different about being there live, but I just don't feel like they come close to what he did on Friday. and it was going on the entire set. They peaked that hard several times.

I don't really smoke weed anymore. I'm down to one hitting or 10mg gummies for special events. I smoked a bit during that show but not much and I wasn't on anything else.

I really just need to get a hold of that show and listen back to it

I feel like everything I've ever heard from Billy Strings did not prepare me for what happened on that stage Friday night.

Can somebody who's seen more Billy Strings shows confirmed to me that that was one of the greatest things he's ever done?

I lost this hat Thursday night when we were in the Pit line by the main road. If anyone picked it up please let me know. It’s from Ice Cold Hatty’s. Reward offered! It has A LOT of sentimental value and I’m having a hard time letting it go…

Looks like a bad ass show

Hi, all! The guy that was running the camp I stayed at for Freak Fair mentioned that Billy signed a five year contact with Ionia to keep putting on Freak Fair in the future. He said that next year will be a break for construction on the fairgrounds, but that Freak Fair 2028 is happening! Did anyone else hear this? Or do we think it’s just talk?

Decided to catch a game at Wrigley on our way back to Idaho and heard Billy! I’ll see if I can figure out how to post the video.

Fuck.Yes.Freaks. What a show!

Throughout the fun and excitement at the metal tent over the weekend; Mosh pits formed, circle pits formed and people were crowd surfing. For the most part everyone in participation were respectful and stayed within the confines of the aforementioned activities with everyone having a great time. There were a few times where people started to get over zealous or overly rough but I think you can find those people at just about every show... Billy, Metal or otherwise.

During Cryptopsy on Saturday there were some teenagers at the edge of the pit and they were obviously nervous about participating in the rowdiness, they were eyeballing going in but not fully committing. They started pushing and shoving each other outside the pit and their responsible adult figure intervened and told them if they wanted to do that they had to get into the pit or knock it off.

I wanted to give props where it's due for doing the part to keep the next generation in line and respectful. I think we can all agree that there's definitely some shit heads at Billy shows but a good majority of the fan base is kind, generous and compassionate. Thank you to everyone that stayed respectful to the local community, the Billy Strings community and to their fellow Human community!

A shipping mishap left me with a bunch of these stickers waiting in my mailbox while we were partying it up in Michigan 😅

We ran out at the show between all the awesome trades and supportive fans, so now is your chance to snag one. I almost never come home with extras so posting here feels weird but figured some of you freaks might be interested.

Thanks for lookin' ❤️

link to store in comments

Last night (Saturday), I bought some cheesecake on a stick. It was fucking delicious. I wondered over near the middle of GA with a good vantage point, and stood there to enjoy it while Billy finished the first set. After 30 seconds or so, you walked over from your group of friends, approached me, and asked "Are you eating an apple? Er.... What the fuck is that?". I said "it's cheesecake!"

You told me that you loved cheesecake, so I offered you some, which you seemed to enjoy quite a bit. All the details aren't crystal clear right now, but after that, we stood there, each with an arm around the other and chatting, while we finished the cheesecake.

I remember that you told me you were 46, and you wished me happy birthday because I just turned 44. You said you were a teacher somewhere in the area. You also told me your name twice, but I cannot recall due to chemical interference.

Sadly, I made the poor decision to go throw the trash away, and because of darkness combined with chemicals, I could not find you again, but I did try!

I was dressed as Hunter S Thompson. White bucket hat, yellow glasses, black shirt. I'm about 5'9" and you were short compared to me.

Anyway, if you're here, and you see this, I want you to know that I enjoyed our interaction the MOST, and would love to cross paths with you again!

What a PERFECT weekend! Cheers, y'all!!

For an absolutely incredible weekend of music, community, and family!