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What’s up Sorry State readers, I hope everyone had a fun Halloween weekend. Today I was gonna switch it up and write about how I spent my weekend over in Asheville for the annual Billy Strings Halloween shows. I went with one of my good buddies and we took his van, which was a lot more spacious than I expected. We were able to raise the top and fold out another upper sleeping area and set up a table and chairs, so we were pretty comfortable rolling around in our little mobile home for the weekend and parking in various parking lots to sleep. We arrived late Friday night and the first of three shows was Saturday night, so we just chilled that night and woke up and got some breakfast and went on a nice hike in the morning. I love being up in the mountains this time of year and seeing all the Fall colors. It never gets old. The theme for the shows was Lord of the Rings, so each night musically played out the plot of each movie, starting with The Fellowship of The Ring. The sight of Billy Strings walking out on stage as Frodo and the band dressed as the rest of the fellowship (Gandalf on upright bass, Legolas on Fiddle, Sam on mandolin, Aragorn on banjo) is a sight I don’t think I’ll soon forget. Lots of other people joined them on stage throughout the shows, including a flute player, another fiddle player, and even Gollum ripping metal cello solos. They played an array of music set to the plot of the movies which included songs from the movies like Bilbo’s birthday song, original Billy songs, and covers of songs by artists like Doc Watson, Johnny Cash, Leadbelly, Black Sabbath, and a bunch more. I have too many favorite moments from throughout these shows but if I had to pick a few, it would be Gandalf singing Ring of Fire, Gollum’s fucked up cello solo when he first showed up, and the nine-piece band Freeborn Man encore at the end of the second show. Not to mention the insane almost 20 minute Meet Me at the Creek, which had the sweetest sounding flute solo I’ve ever heard. The attention to detail was great, like Gandalf emerging from smoke on stage the second night in an all white robe and a chrome bass representing his return as Gandalf the White. These shows were so much fun. There are not too many other ways I’d wanna spend my Halloween weekend than in the Blue Ridge Mountains dressed like a Hobbit and living out of a van with one of my best friends while watching one of our favorite bands play. Go see Billy live. You won’t regret it!
https://youtu.be/ls18VzQDK-M