Watch Publish Malone and Billy Strings Cowl Johnny Money’s ‘Cocaine Blues’

It lastly occurred. After teasing their friendship on-line again in 2020 with a lever-action rifle and a viral Instagram submit, Publish Malone and Billy Strings carried out collectively onstage. The “Circles” rapper joined the lightning-fast bluegrass picker on the Observatory in Santa Ana, California, for a rollicking cowl of “Cocaine Blues,” the cautionary homicide track made well-known by Johnny Money.

“Billy Strings is the very best to ever fucking do it,” Publish Malone mentioned upon strolling onstage with a draft beer and a lit cigarette — which he politely requested Strings’ permission to snub out on the stage. Malone, strumming an acoustic guitar, dealt with the vocals, whereas Strings and his ace band added intricate bluegrass prospers, each of them smiling and buddying up all the best way.

Posty relished the lyrics about “capturing his lady down,” however he selected to ship them subtly, not with the same old aggro vibes of others who’ve lined the swaggering tune. When it got here to the climactic end — “I can’t neglect the day I shot that dangerous bitch down” — he swallowed “dangerous bitch” as an alternative of emphasizing it.

Strings, a bastion of up to date bluegrass who’s received over followers of rock, jam and nation along with his marathon concert events and dexterity, will headline Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium for 3 nights in Could. Eventually night time’s present in Santa Ana, he performed an eclectic mixture of his personal songs like “Mud in a Baggie” and “Wargasm” (his collab with the rapper RMR), together with Flatt & Scruggs and Invoice Monroe covers.