[trickpat]

Hey y’all,
I just saw that I have not posted anything for almost 7 years, but I just had to mention this guy (I know he’s been mentioned on the AGF in the past). I saw him Wednesday night at Tipitina’s in New Orleans. I’m from NOLA but I now live an hour away and I had to work the next morning for 7am. So, at 51yo, this was a bit of a tall order. However, I still stayed for the 3 hour show (that started at 10:45 after the opener finished at 10:30) including the encore. I’ve seen a lot of Billy’s videos but I was blown away seeing him and his band in person. All four guys in his group are absolutely stellar musicians who work as well together as any band I’ve seen (beats anything I’ve ever seen over the years at Jazz Fest for sure). Whether you’re a bluegrass fan or not, see him if you get the chance.

I saw that in the past there were a few comments that some folks were not fans of the extended jam sessions that his band performs. I’ll just say that when I first started watching Billy, I liked the traditional stuff more as well, and during jam sessions I would wait anxiously for his band to return to the melody and chorus of the song. However, what he does musically is so interesting that I now find myself getting totally wrapped up in the jam. Seeing them live, I was surprised a couple of times when the band came back to the chorus and I realized “oh yeah, they’re playing such and such.” At those times, I found that I could have done with a bit more of the jam.

Again, I’m just totally blown away by what I saw the other night.

SEE THIS GUY!

Patrick