Billy Strings: Tiny Desk Concert

Billy Strings: Tiny Desk Concert with tags npr, npr music, national public radio, live, performance, tiny desk, tiny desk concert, tony desk, tiny concert

Kara Frame | December 10, 2025

It's rare these days for an artist to ask for fewer microphones, but after warming up in our space, Billy Strings did just that. Surrounded by his band, the bluegrass virtuoso brings back the spirit of Tiny Desk's early days. We capture, in his own words, "the way these instruments are meant to sound."

"We've been lucky to play a lot of cool venues," Strings says, pausing to reflect. "But this one's different. It has that same soul to it because — I've seen so many amazing performances that happened right here and I kind of believe that love and spirit kind of soaks into this environment, so just standing here feels like a special thing."

Strings found his roots in bluegrass from his dad. Since then, he's managed to expand the genre to new audiences, amassing a following of super fans — self-proclaimed "billy goats" — that sometimes schedule their lives around his tour. Once you meet Strings, it's not hard to understand why: He's a humble musician and a sorcerer of his craft, wielding a guitar as if it's a part of him.

SET LIST

"Red Daisy"

"My Alice"

"Malfunction Junction"

"Gild the Lily"

MUSICIANS

Billy Strings: vocals, guitar

Alex Hargreaves: fiddle

Billy Failing: banjo, background vocals

Royal Masat: bass, background vocals

Jarrod Walker: mandolin, background vocals

TINY DESK TEAM

Producer: Kara Frame

Director/Editor: Maia Stern

Audio Technical Director: Josh Newell

Host/Series Producer: Bobby Carter

Videographers: Maia Stern, Kara Frame, Joshua Bryant

Audio Engineer: Neil Tevault

Production Assistants: Dora Levite, Dhanika Pineda

Photographer: Michael Zamora

Series Editor: Lars Gotrich

Executive Producer: Suraya Mohamed

Executive Director: Sonali Mehta

Series Creators: Bob Boilen, Stephen Thompson, Robin Hilton

#billystrings #nprmusic #tinydesk

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