Billy Strings Welcomes Michael Cleveland for Bill Monroe Tribute in Louisville
Billy Strings, photo by Stevo Rood
Billy Strings touched down in Kentucky last night to set off a two-night stand at Louisville’s KFC Yum! Center. At the outset of a six-show December series and his first appearance since his exhilarating weekend at New Jersey’s Prudential Center, Strings and his tried and true backing band tore through a 26-track litany of essential originals and covers. The performance came to an apex in the second set, when the band welcomed the celebrated fiddler Michael Cleveland for an extended sit-in and tribute to the great Bill Monroe.
Strings and his group took the stage on Friday night with the longstanding fan-favorites “Dust in a Baggie,” “Hellbender” and “While I’m Waiting Here,” building to a segued pairing of “Taking Water” and “Ice Bridges.” Strings, Billy Failing, Alex Hargreaves, Royal Masat and Jarrod Walker took the scenic route through “The Fire on My Tongue” and skidded into the classic “Ole Slew Foot,” which arrived as the evening’s first cover. Following some more borrowed songs and cuts from Highway Prayers, the ensemble wrapped up the first frame with an expansive medley of “Red Daisy” and “Slow Train.”
The band returned to the spotlight with another key cut from Strings’ celebrated 2024 album, letting “Gild the Lily” set an ambling pace and kind-hearted tone for ensuing treatments of “Heartbeat Of America” and “In The Morning Light.” After a combined take on the rip-roaring “Malfunction Junction” and “Little Maggie,” the band warmly welcomed Cleveland onstage for the traditional “Sally Goodin.” A roaring response from the audience gave the artists a beat before they pooled their talents in a five-track tribute to Monroe; fans in the Bluegrass State caught a proper tribute to the genre’s originator with “My Rose of Old Kentucky” (last played in April 2024), a live debut of “Sitting Alone in the Moonlight,” “Molly And Tenbrooks” (last played in April 2024) “With Body & Soul” and a grand finale of “Roll On Buddy, Roll On.”
Strings will perform at KFC Yum! Center again tonight, then close out a long year on the road with four more shows in Tulsa, Okla., Fort Worth, Texas and Austin, Texas through Dec. 14. Find tickets and the quick-picking progressive revivalist’s 2025 live itinerary at billystrings.com.
Watch fan-recorded videos of Strings and Cleveland’s reunion below. Read on for the full setlist from Friday night.
Billy Strings
KFC Yum! Center – Louisville, Ky.
12/6/25
Set I: Dust In A Baggie, Hellbender, While I’m Waiting Here, Taking Water Ice Bridges, Show Me The Door, The Fire On My Tongue > Ole Slew Foot, My Alice, Hello, City Limits, Seven Weeks in County, Harbor of Love, Red Daisy > Slow Train
Set II: Gild the Lily, Heartbeat Of America, In The Morning Light, Malfunction Junction > Little Maggie, Hide and Seek, Sally Goodin+, My Rose Of Old Kentucky+^, Sitting Alone In The Moonlight+*, Molly And Tenbrooks+#, With Body & Soul+~, Roll On Buddy, Roll On+
Notes:
+ w/ Michael Cleveland on fiddle
^ Last Time Played 2024-04-26 | 125 show gap
* FTP – Bill Monroe
# Last Time Played 2024-04-13 | 130 show gap
~ Last Time Played 2025-02-28 | 71 show gap
Setlist via billybase.net.
