TICKETS ON-SALE NEXT THURSDAY VIA FAIR AXS, REGISTRATION OPEN NOW
NEW ALBUM WITH HIS FATHER, TERRY BARBER, ME/AND/DAD RELEASED TO CRITICAL ACCLAIM
November 22, 2022—Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Billy Strings will return to Colorado’s Red Rocks Amphitheatre next spring for two shows on May 11 and 12.
Tickets will be available via FAIR AXS. Registration for a chance to purchase tickets is open now through this Sunday, November 27 at 11:59pm ET/9:59pm MT. Following registration, randomly selected fans will be notified if they’ve been chosen to join the on-sale starting Thursday, December 1 at 12:00pm ET/10:00am MT. Full details can be found at www.billystrings.com/tour.
The Red Rocks dates add to Strings’ extensive 2023 headline tour, which includes 15 arena shows with stops at Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena (two nights, both sold out), Atlantic City’s Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena (three nights), Charlottesville’s John Paul Jones Arena (two nights), Atlanta’s State Farm Arena and Charleston’s North Charleston Coliseum (two nights) among others. Additionally, Strings will return to the historic Ryman Auditorium on February 26 for a third sold-out Nashville show. See below for complete itinerary.
The upcoming performances follow the release of Strings’ acclaimed new album, Me/And/Dad—his first with his father, Terry Barber (stream/purchase here). The product of a longtime dream, the album features new versions of fourteen bluegrass and country classics that the two have been playing together since Strings was a young child.
In celebration of the release, a new mini-doc debuted last week, which captures Strings and Barber throughout the record making process, while Strings was also recently featured on “CBS Sunday Morning” speaking with correspondent Conor Knighton. Watch the profile HERE.
Critical acclaim for Me/And/Dad:
“exuberant interplay…a match made tender by the familiar harmonies of these two lifelong picking partners”—NPR Music
“Top-notch, wooly bluegrass picking wraps around distinct, family harmonies throughout the album”—Billboard
“a hell of a homecoming, Strings having assembled a band of bluegrass dreams as a public display of affection for the man who first took him there”—MOJO
“No matter your musical affiliation, this one will draw you in. It’s a cross-generational celebration paying tribute to Strings’ musical roots, welcoming both strangers and old friends to gather ’round.”—No Depression
“one of the best guitar players in music”—American Songwriter
“The pair harmonize beautifully…a sound that can only be replicated by blood, highlighting the magic that motivated Strings to create this project with his father”—The Boot
“It sparkles with joy and the kind of seemingly impossible playing in which Strings specializes”—Folk Alley
“exhilarating (and heartwarming)”—XPN The Key
“That familial connection is palpable…three-part harmonies that evoke echoes of Appalachia’s revered high lonesome sound, with Strings and Barber’s vocal registers, in particular, blending together seamlessly”—Glide
“wondrous and masterful…Me/And/Dad serves as both an endearing and fantastic trip to his roots and musical beginnings”—Americana Highways
“a truly great bluegrass record”—Outsider
“a fantastic new record…easily one of the more unique and special projects we’ve gotten this year”—Whiskey Riff
Produced by Strings and Gary Paczosa and recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studio, the record finds Strings and Barber playing with familiar ease, naturally trading off leads both vocally and on guitar. In addition to Strings and Barber, the album features an all-star band including bassist Mike Bub, mandolinist Ron McCoury, banjo player Rob McCoury and fiddler Michael Cleveland as well as special guest appearances by Jerry Douglas, Jason Carter and Strings’ mother, Debra Barber, who sings on the final track, “I Heard My Mother Weeping.”
Reflecting on the project, Strings shares, “As long as I can remember, I wanted to make a record with my dad. I’ve been burning up and down the highways the last 12 years, and as time slips away, you start thinking, ‘I need to make time.’ It’s been a bucket list thing for me, something I’ve been afraid I wouldn’t find the time to do. And that scared me; not doing this record scared me.”
photo credit: Joshua Black Wilkins
The new record follows Strings’ widely acclaimed, GRAMMY-nominated album, Renewal, which landed on several “Best of 2021” lists including The Bitter Southerner, No Depression, Glide, The Boot, Folk Alley and was one of the Top 50 Most Played Albums at Americana Radio last year. Produced by Jonathan Wilson, the record was released to overwhelming praise with The New York Times declaring, “a premier bluegrass mind for this post-everything era…he has zigged and zagged between the form’s antediluvian traditions and rapid-fire improvisations that hit like hard bop, all within songs with hooks so sharp that he seems poised for crossover stardom.”
Raised in Michigan and now based in Nashville, Strings is known as one of music’s most compelling artists. Since his 2017 debut, he has been awarded Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd GRAMMY Awards, Artist of the Year at the 2022 Americana Music Awards, Entertainer of the Year and Song of the Year at the 2022 International Bluegrass Music Awards (the organization also named him Entertainer of the Year and Guitar Player of the Year in 2021), Best New Headliner at the 2022 Pollstar Awards, Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic at the 2021 Pollstar Awards and has performed on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert,” “Jimmy Kimmel Live!,” PBS’ “Austin City Limits” and “Bluegrass Underground.” A respected figure across all genres, Strings has also collaborated with a wide variety of artists.
ME/AND/DAD TRACK LIST
1. Long Journey Home (bluegrass traditional)
2. Life To Go (written by George Jones)
3. Way Downtown (written by Doc Watson)
4. Little Blossom (written by Hank Thompson)
5. Peartree (written by Arthel Lane “Doc” Watson, Gaither Carlton)
6. Stone Walls and Steel Bars (written by Ray Pennington, Roy Eugene Marcum)
7. Little White Church (written by Eugene Wellman)
8. Dig A Little Deeper (In The Well) (written by Jody Emerson, Roger Bowling)
9. Wandering Boy (written by A.P. Carter)
10. John Deere Tractor (written by Lawrence Hammond)
11. Frosty Morn (bluegrass traditional)
12. I Haven’t Seen Mary In Years (written by Damon Black)
13. Little Cabin Home On The Hill (written by Lester Flatt, Bill Monroe)
14. Heard My Mother Weeping (written by Carl Story, Lowell Blanchard)
BILLY STRINGS CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
BOLD on-sale next Thursday, December 1, registration open now
BOLD on-sale next Thursday, December 1, registration open now
November 29—Oslo, Norway—Rockefeller Music Hall (SOLD OUT)
November 30—Copenhagen, Denmark—Vega
December 1—Stockholm, Sweden—Slaktkyrkan (SOLD OUT)
December 3—Berlin, Germany—Columbia Theater (SOLD OUT)
December 4—Amsterdam, Netherlands—Melkweg (SOLD OUT)
December 5—Cologne, Germany—Die Kantine
December 7—London, UK—O2 Forum Kentish Town (SOLD OUT)
December 8—Manchester, UK—O2 Ritz Manchester (SOLD OUT)
December 9—Dublin, Ireland—The Academy (SOLD OUT)
December 11—Glasgow, UK—Galvanizers Yard (SOLD OUT)
December 30—New Orleans, LA—Lakefront Arena
December 31—New Orleans, LA—Lakefront Arena (SOLD OUT)
February 2—Denver, CO—1STBANK Center (SOLD OUT)
February 3—Denver, CO—1STBANK Center (SOLD OUT)
February 4—Denver, CO—1STBANK Center (SOLD OUT)
February 16—Atlantic City, NJ—Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
February 17— Atlantic City, NJ—Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena
February 18—Atlantic City, NJ—Hard Rock Live at Etess Arena (SOLD OUT)
February 21—Charlottesville, VA—John Paul Jones Arena
February 22—Charlottesville, VA—John Paul Jones Arena
February 24—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena (SOLD OUT)
February 25—Nashville, TN—Bridgestone Arena (SOLD OUT)
February 26—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium (SOLD OUT)
March 3—Winston-Salem, NC—Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum – Doc Watson’s 100th Birthday Show
March 4—Winston-Salem, NC—Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum
March 7—Athens, GA—Georgia Theatre (SOLD OUT)
March 10—Atlanta, GA—State Farm Arena
March 11—Charleston, SC—North Charleston Coliseum
March 12—Charleston, SC—North Charleston Coliseum
March 16—Cincinnati, OH—The Andrew J Brady Music Center (SOLD OUT)
March 17—Cincinnati, OH—The Andrew J Brady Music Center (SOLD OUT)
March 18—Cincinnati, OH—The Andrew J Brady Music Center (SOLD OUT)
May 11—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre
May 12—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre