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

Copyright 2025, NPR