By Nate Todd March 26, 2022 • 9:43 a.m. PDT

Billy Strings made his London debut on Friday. The guitarist and his band debuted The Beatles’ “I’ve Just Seen A Face” towards the end of a long set at Rough Trade East.

Billy and company — mandolinist Jarrod Walkerbass player Royal Masat and banjo player billy fails – kicked off their London premiere with “Everything’s The Same” from his 2019 Grammy-winning album, House. The acclaimed artist then turned to material from his Grammy-nominated 2021 LP Renewal with “Hellbender” and “This Old World”. Strings then chained the Doc Watson-related tracks “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town” and the instrumental “Black Mountain Rag”.

Renewal “Secrets” and “Morning Light” followed, separated by the complex instrumental “Tipper” by Tony Rice. Billy then kicked off a transparent three-song section that began with Jerry Reed’s “Likes Of Me” before heading into the original instrumental “Pyramid Country”. Strings closed the section with the debut of “I’ve Just Seen A Face” by The Beatles. The song of Paul McCartney To help! cut has become a favorite among bluegrass artists because it is essentially a bluegrass song. The strings and band delivered high, lonely harmonies on the iconic chorus and Billy offered a spot on the melodic solo rendition.

The Billys, Royal and Jarrod then gathered around a single microphone for the last three songs of the set which began with the traditional “Been All Around This World”. Billy then addressed the London audience. “We wanted to play some bluegrass for you guys,” he said. “There are a lot of fiddle tunes that originated here in Europe and made their way to America and into the ears of hillbilly like me. So thank you to all your great-great-grandfathers for all their neat fiddle tunes. Strings and company ended the set with a single mic “How Mountain Girls Can Love” before some stunning harmonies on “If Your Hair Is Too Long (There’s Sin In Your Heart)”. Billy is going to the Islington Assembly Hall in London tonight and tomorrow night. Live streams are available via nugs.net.

Watch the almost complete video of Billy’s London debut below:

Set: Everything is the same, Hellbender, This Old World, Train That Carry My Girl From Town > Black Mountain Rag, Secrets, Tipper, Morning Light, Likes of Me > Pyramid Country > I’ve Just Seen a Face(1), Been All Around This World (2), How Mountain Girls Can Love (2), If Your Hair’s Too Long (There’s Sin In Your Heart)

Remarks:

(1) FTP – The Beatles

(2) Single mic