Mother and Church: Billy Strings Breaks Ryman Concert into Themed Sets with Help From Darol Anger, Russ Carson, Ronnie Bowman, Eddie Barbash and More

March 3, 2025

Photo: Stevo Rood

On Sunday night, March 2, Billy Strings made one final Nashville stop, returning to the Ryman Auditorium following two guest-packed performances at the nearby Bridgestone Arena. Last night’s event paid homage to the Mother Church, by dividing the two set presentation into a pair of themed segments, the first leaned heavily into tunes related to motherhood [evoking the “Mother” in The Ryman’s heavenly nickname], and the latter half focused on worship [“Church”].

Playing up the venue’s historical status, Strings’ accompaniment, Jarrod Walker, Alex Hargreaves, Billy Failing, and Royal Masat donned white button downs, black pants and string ties, summoning a Southern-tinged vintage flair, not unlike Col. Sanders. The ensemble opened the night with a pull from Me/And/Dad, on the Larry Sparks release, “John Deere Tractor,” which seized the aforementioned motif on the initial line: “Hey mama, here’s a letter from your son.”

The band followed from their opener with a debut of Riley Puckett’s “Put My Little Shoes Away,” known for its pleas of “mother.” Bluegrass great Ronnie Bowman stepped out as Strings’ first guest, joining the group for Bill Monroe’s “Mother’s Not Dead,” before dusting off the traditional, “Fifteen Cents,” for the first time since March 3, 2023, sans guest.

The group returned to “Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley” for the first time since Oct. 31, 2023, ending a 196 show gap. The night’s rendition of “The Old Home” was infused by banjoist Russ Carson, who stuck around for a follow-up, traditional “Shuckin’ The Corn,” representing a debut. Strings and Failing delivered “Dos Banjos,” before Bowman and Carson returned to add to another first time play, Bill Monroe’s “Memories of Mother and Dad.”

Another debut came next, taking the form of Paul Reimers’ “I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home.” Eddie Barbash added alto sax during the night’s segue of “Psycho” into “Mama Tried.” The latter represented a bust out, last played on May 8, 2022. “No Mother or Dad,” brought the return of Carson, who, along with fellow guest Bowman and Barbash, elaborated on the first time cover, and frame ender, “Mama Don’t Allow.”

Like the initial set, the ensuing 16-song display percolated an array of first-time covers that leaned into the aforementioned holy theme, beginning with the aptly pulled “Open Up Them Pearly Gates.” The initial song did not include guests; instead, the band held out for song two before bringing out Carson to add to a nearly forgotten piece of the String catalog: Roy Acuff’s “Traveling The Highway Home,” last played on Aug. 16, 2015, ending a 1,110-show gap.

Bowman extended the vocal lead during “Angel Band,” with instrumental backing from additional guest Carson. The added help remained for the highly regarded traditional “Working on a Building,” representing another bust-out. This holy motif continued with “Little White Church in the Valley,” last played on March 1, 2020, and “You Must Come In at the Door,” last played in 2022.

The Stanley Brothers’ “Harbor of Love” separated dust offs from debuts, and the subsequent first-time arrivals of “Somebody Touch Me” and “Shalom Aleichem,” both of which feature Carson and Barbash. The aforementioned number ran into “Jerusalem Ridge,” last played on Dec. 14, 2017, ending a 761 show gap, before debuting Larry Sparks and The Lonesome Ramblers’ “Green Pastures In The Sky.”

Sparks’ “Jesus is Waiting for Me” came before the arrival of Strings’ newly added guest, violinist and founding member of the David Grisman Quartet, Darol Anger, who, along with fellow guests Bowman, Carson and Barbash assisted Strings on traditional “Cryin’ Holy Unto The Lord” and “Three Men On A Mountain.” They covered The Stanley Brothers’ “That Home Far Away” before blowing the dust off “I’ll Fly Away” for the first time since Oct. 31, 2018, ending a 606 show gap.

Hammering home his independent strength, Strings stepped out for the initial song of the night’s encore, a solo, a capella delivery of “And Am I Born To Die?” With all the night’s guests now in tow, and the final arrival Robb Cappelletto present, the swelled stage added emotional weight to “I Saw The Light” before a stunning finale: “Will the Circle Be Unbroken?”

With Winter Tour 2025 in the books, Strings will take a break from the road before resuming his live commitments beginning on April 3 in St. Augustine, Fla. Learn more.

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Billy Strings

Ryman Auditorium – Nashville, Tenn.

March 2, 2025

Set I: John Deere Tractor, Put My Little Shoes Away1, Mother’s Not Dead2,3, Fifteen Cents4, Lamp Lighting Time in the Valley5, The Old Home6, Shuckin’ The Corn6,7, Country Blues8, Dos Banjos9, Memories Of Mother And Dad2,6,10, I Wonder How The Old Folks Are At Home11, Psycho12> Mama Tried12,13, No Mother Or Dad2,6,12,14, Mama Don’t Allow2,6,12

Set II: Open Up Them Pearly Gates, Traveling The Highway Home6,15, Angel Band6,16, Working On A Building2,6,17, There’s A Little White Church In The Valley6,18, You Must Come In At The Door19, Harbor of Love, Somebody Touched Me6,12,20, Shalom Aleichem6,12,21 > Jerusalem Ridge6,12,22, Green Pastures In The Sky23, Jesus is Waiting For Me24, Cryin’ Holy Unto The Lord2,6,12,25,26, Three Men On A Mountain2,6, 12, 25, 27, That Home Far Away2,6,12,25 > I’ll Fly Away2,6,12,25,28

Enc.: And Am I Born To Die?29, I Saw The Light2,6,12,25,30,31, Will The Circle Be Unbroken2,6,12,25,30

Notes: