Skip to content
What’s up Sorry State readers? I hope everyone had a nice week. The day I’ve been waiting for has finally arrived (well a few weeks ago now), Billy Strings has released live music on vinyl. Woohoo! Aptly titled Live Vol. 1, I knew it had to be imminent, but I was excited when this was officially announced back in May and time has flown by since then and here we are. I always tell people Billy’s albums are great, but the live experience is where it’s at. No song is ever the same twice and the energy at a show can be electric and I’ve found that’s translated pretty well to this record. The record consists of all original music, except for one cover, which happens to be one of my favorites. Reuben’s Train is a traditional song that originated in the southern region of Appalachia in the late 1800s (the history for a lot of these old traditional songs can be a little shoddy.) This particular live version comes from the show at the famous Ryman Auditorium in Nashville this past February 25th, which I was lucky enough to be in attendance. He starts off with his own original Fire Line, which leads directly into this ripping Reuben’s Train, all in all clocking in at about 19 minutes. The mother church was rocking during this and I remember how clear you could hear the bass thumping in there; you could feel it shaking the pews under you. It’s so amazing to see someone performing a song that’s probably 150+ years old, and taking it to new levels and having a whole venue packed out singing along and dancing to it. I remember getting into the Grateful Dead and discovering the live stuff and listening to shows and thinking to myself “damn that would be so cool to actually be at one of these shows that’s now a live album and get to experience it again” and now I’ve been given that with this performance. I can’t wait to dust off this record when I’m old and gray and throw it on and have the memories come rushing back. Here’s to hoping I’m at some of the shows when Vol. 2 is recorded!
(The picture above was taken at the aforementioned performance of Reuben’s Train at the Ryman)