#1
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I saw Billy Strings last night!!!
So, last night I saw Billy Strings in concert in Santa Barbara, CA. Absolutely, one of the best concerts I have ever seen in my life! He played his signature Preston Thompson Dreadnaught the entire evening, and it sounded amazing. If you ever have the opportunity to see him live, it is quite an experience. It's kind of like Tony Rice meets Led Zepellin...I highly recommend!
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#2
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He is quite a talent. I’ve never caught him live but love watching his videos.
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1938 Gibson L-00 Martin 000-28 Custom Authentic 1937 Taylor K14ce Builders Edition National Polychrome Tricone National Model D Squareneck Weber Gallatin A Mandolin http://www.bandmix.com/jon-nilsen/ https://www.bandmix.com/limberlost/ |
#3
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Billy Strings is a good player
There are quite a few who are Better in my opinion.
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Classical guitars, flat top steel string A few banjos and mandolins Accrued over 59 years of playing |
#4
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People say this on Tony Rice vids on YouTube too, so clearly he's in good company.
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#5
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In my humble opinion Billy Stings is a force of nature. And a great guy to boot. But he may not be to everyone's taste so no worries...
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Jim Dogs Welcome......People Tolerated! |
#6
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I have seen him many times over the past 10 years. He is an incredible musician and keeps growing.
He’s a very kind, humble individual and very generous. If you ever have an opportunity to see him in concert, do it! You will not regret it.
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Goditi la vita! Collings ~ Taylor ~ Martin |
#7
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But having watched Billy Strings live twice, having met him as well as seeing hearing and sometimes meeting multiple others who may qualify as "better".... There are very few who combine songwriting, playing, and dynamic energy quite like Billy Strings. Unlike most of us old AGF'ers and our aging heroes, Billy is young and attracts young people to roots/newgrass/Americana. There are probably a few "better" players right here on the AGF. Tell me about their packed shows, their festival crowds, how many new players they're attracting to guitar/playing music? I don't mean anything personally, but I can't help but read a bit of sour grapes into comments like the one quoted above. |
#8
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I think you’re missing the whole point of music if you feel the need to call certain musicians “better” or anything along those lines.
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#9
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Billy is a world class picker, of that there can be no doubt. Are there better players out there? Of course there are, and there always will be. Billy is a multi-skilled performer who definitely knows his strengths, one of which is that he doesn’t try to be something he’s not.
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It won’t always be like this. |
#10
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He's incredible
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#11
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I'm a lot older 68 and I thought of it as a Greatful Dead bluegrass concert. More so because of the crowd at the concert in Ohio. Then after the concert I thought you know Jerry Garcia was into bluegrass and played it outside of Dead gigs. Anyways hell of a show and picker.
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#12
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I know there's a certain element of competition and one-upsmanship (it's a word!) in bluegrass flatpicking, so maybe trying to quantify talent goes with the territory. But I think that is always balanced out by how participatory the scene is, a genre of music that is as much for the players as it is the audience. I'm not a fan of captions you see on videos like "Billy Strings CRUSHES Doing My Time" like it's a cage match between him and his forefathers. But that's not his posture at all. I think this Doc Watson tribute set shows where Billy's coming from. Besides being a massive talent, he's got a lot of heart.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nk4SWmDbMNI |
#13
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I guess that could be said of every player on the planet except the very best one. Why waste our time on the lesser ones? From now on, I'm listening to number one exclusively. Now I have to figure out who that is.
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#14
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Music is enjoyment not a competition. As the late Muddy Waters once said: "there is no best, there are only good ones."
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George 1930 National Style O 1931 National Triolian 1933 Gibson L-1 2007 Martin 000-18 SB Authentic 2013 Gibson 1935 Advanced Jumbo Limited Edition 2013 Gibson 1934 Original Jumbo Limited Edition 2021 Martin D-28 CAA 1937 2022 Martin 000-28 CAA Many Strat's, Tele's, ES 335's and a Gretsch Duo Jet |
#15
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I digress, but I think much of the Billy bashing is related to his embracing of that culture. For better or worse. But culture aside he is monster player and a net positive for acoustic guitar and bluegrass/roots music. |