Billy Strings Drops ‘Apple Music Nashville Sessions’ EP Before Reviving Covers in Fargo

Photo: Christopher Morley

Billy Strings has turned over the Apple Music Nashville Sessions EP, new renditions of songs that initially appeared on his latest studio output, 2024’s Highway Prayers. The four-song set features assistance from jazz-informed keysman Cory Henry, cellist Nat Smith, backbeat Jamie Dick, fiddler Jason Carter, and mandolin virtuoso Sam Bash, on select numbers, and arrived with an official in-studio video of “Gild The Lily.” Hours after delivering the batch, Strings took the stage in Fargo, N.D., where he revived classic material from the band’s deep catalog of covers.

Apple Music Nashville Sessions stays true to Billy Strings’ core lineup with Billy Failing (banjo/vocals), Alex Hargreaves (fiddle), Royal Masat (bass/vocals, and Jarrod Walker (mandolin/vocals) and their bandleader returning to tracks like “Be Your Man,” “Leaning on a Travelin’ Song,” “Malfunction Junction” and “Gild The Lily,” which make up the full run of EP material, expanded from its original form.

Tuesday’s surprise drop coincides with the band’s latest live appearance at Scheels Arena in Fargo, N.D. Where a solo Strings stepped out and opened the night with the calculated riffs of “Guitar Peace,” merged with a tease of Dave Alvin’s “Barn Burnin’,” before the rest of the band turned up for Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.” He segmented the next part of the set into a series of originals, including Apple Music Nashville Sessions, the Highway Prayers originator, “Gild The Lily,” followed by another track off the 2024 release, “Escanaba.”

Blaze Foley’s “Cold, Cold World” broke the pattern, before another pull from their latest studio effort, “Gone A Long Time.” The band delivered the Renewal staple “Love and Regret” before pairing Bill Emerson’s “Home of the Red Fox” and their own, “Know It All.” Set one served “Watch It Fall” fused with Hot Rize’s “Nellie Kane,” before breaking at the halfway mark. For their return, the band gathered around a single mic to reprise the old-timey feeling of the bluegrass tradition on Bill Monroe’s “Close By,” traditional “East Virginia Blues,” played for the first time since August 23, 2024, and “Freedom.”

Stepping back from the single mic and resuming their spots, Strings picked up the clawhammer banjo, and Failing also sought out the instrument for their “Dos Banjos” showdown. The neighboring-state-named “West Dakota Rose” kicked off a three-part sequence, “Show Me the Door,” “Must Be Seven,” and traditional “Little Maggie.”

After another batch of originals, the group dusted off Hartford’s “The Tall Tall Grass” for the first time since August 24, 2023, ending a 146-show gap in performance. Nodding to a final time to Highway Prayers during their Fargo stay, the band performed “Meet Me At The Creek” and a concert closing “The Beginning of the End.”

In their touring pursuit West, Billy Strings will perform on August 15 at Brick Breeden Fieldhouse in Bozeman, Mont. For more information on forthcoming performances, visit www.billystrings.com.

Stream Apple Music Nashville Sessions EP.

Billy Strings

Scheels Arena – Fargo, N.D.

August 12, 2025

Set I: Guitar Peace1,2 > Fearless, Dust In A Baggie, Gild the Lily, Escanaba, Cold Cold World, Gone A Long Time, Love and Regret, Home Of The Red Fox > Know It All, Watch It Fall > Nellie Kane

Set II: Close By3, East Virginia Blues3,4, Freedom3, Dos Banjos5, West Dakota Rose6, Show Me The Door > Must Be Seven > Little Maggie, Nothing’s Working, Highway Hypnosis, The Tall Tall Grass7, Meet Me At The Creek, The Beginning of the End

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