Billy Strings Mourns Mother’s Loss During Tour Finale In Lexington
By Matt Wickstrom
It’s always a special occasion when Billy Strings comes to your town, especially in Lexington — a place I’ve seen him perform countless times, from packed rooms at The Burl to the sun-drenched fields of Railbird.
But a dark and heavy mood loomed over the start of the bluegrass phenom’s two night run at Rupp Arena this past weekend after the singer learned early Friday morning that his mother, Debra Apostol, had unexpectedly died in her sleep the night prior. As Strings took the stage that evening he opened up about his difficult day and decision to continue with his two Lexington shows.
“It was my decision to carry on with tonight’s show because that’s what my mom would’ve wanted me to do,” Strings told the crowd while holding back tears. “She really loved this group of people… The last couple years were some of her happiest because of a lot of you folks right here… The reason why I decided not to go home and be with my family right now is because I already am.”
Despite the feeling of despair that quickly consumed the room in that moment, it was jut as swiftly overcome by the warm, loving embrace of Strings musical family packed to the rafters in attendance for the sold out show once the picking did commence. From then on Strings and his band — Billy Failing (banjo), Jarrod Walker (mandolin), Royal Masat (bass) and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle) — were firing on all cylinders as they paid homage to Strings mother with heady, electrifying jams through the night along with songs like the Allen Reynolds penned, Crystal Gayle popularized hit “Ready For The Times To Get Better,” The Beatles’ “Here Comes The Sun” and “Rocky Raccoon;” and Pearl Jam’s “Elderly Woman Behind the Counter in a Small Town” — which he prefaced with the nugget that the song was taught to him by hi mother and led to him earning his first press mention when he won his fourth grade talent show performing it.
After rising to the occasion during tumultuous circumstances on Friday it would’ve been understandable for Strings’ show to take a step backward on Saturday, but that wasn’t the case — if anything he elevated his game even further. The biggest hiccup of Saturday’s celebration — which was my first time seeing Strings since his sophomore appearance at Railbird Festival in 2021 (making this my first arena-sized show of his) — came out of the gate when issues arose with Masat’s bass, delaying full band festivities for close to 30 minutes.
However, Strings made the most of the slow down, jumping into a solo rendition of The Delmore Brothers’ “Brown’s Ferry Blues” before his band — minus Masat — rallied around him to tackle the traditional “Soldier’s Joy” and Bill Monroe & The Bluegrass Boys’ “Roll On Buddy Roll On.”
More bluegrass classics like “Black Mountain Rag,” “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town” and Carter Stanley’s “Sharecropper’s Son” littered the first set, which showcased Strings’ versatility with it’s abundance of mind-melding jams, traditional standards and trailblazing originals flawlessly flowing from one to another and embodying how he’s making old-time string music cool again in the process.
Kicking off Saturday’s second set was the angst of “Heartbeat Of America” that, paired with the news earlier in the evening that the United States military had carried out a bombing operation in Iran, displayed both the importance and power of music to capture a moment in time, just as Strings’ opening speech and references to his mom did the night prior. From there the mood only continued to rise with a trippy cover of Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue” and single mic captures on “Richard Petty” and “If Your Hair’s Too Long (There’s Sin In Your Heart).”
Following that came arguably the night — and dare I say the entire weekend’s — biggest highlight with a performance of the fan favorite Strings’ tune “Meet Me At The Creek.” The psychedelic foray from 2017’s Turmoil & Tinfoil was stretched from a nine minute jam on the album to a near 20 minute marathon inside Rupp, much to the delight of the Lexington crowd, which could be heard singing along whenever the seemingly endless noodling gave way to String’s high-pitched holler.
Following a cover of “Shady Grove” that came after “Meet Me At The Creek,” Strings and co. jumped into “The Beginning Of The End” from 2024’s Highway Prayers. Much like his performance of “Dos Banjos” the night before with it’s timely lyrics about his mother encouraging him to pursue friendships over money with his musical ambitions, “The Beginning Of The End” struck a similar chord with the crowd due to its message of living in the moment, cherishing occasions like these concerts with people you love and anticipating when you’ll get together next time to do it all over again.
Following that joyous communion to cap the set, Strings was ushered back to the stage with emphatic encore chants that yielded a final, two song flourish of “Gild The Lilly” and “Freeborn Man,” the latter a traditional classic that seemed to play into some of the country’s current political unrest similar to the second set opener, “Heartbeat Of America.”
With so much heartbreak and violence taking place in the world around us (along with the surprise death of Strings’ mother), moments like these concerts are perfect reminders that *most of us have a lot more in common than we do different and how music is able to bring us all together more effectively than most other mediums can even imagine. It speaks truth to power, something we always need no matter who’s calling the shots. Only then will we all truly be freeborn.
