19 May 2025

WILLIE NELSON, BOB DYLAN, BILLY STRINGS, and SIERRA HULL | Outlaw Festival, Wheatland CA | 05.18.2025

ARTICLE CONTRIBUTED BY GABRIEL DAVID BARKIN | PUBLISHED ON May 19, 2025

Willie Nelson

Willie Nelson rolled his 10th anniversary Outlaw Music Festival into the Toyota Amphitheater in Wheatland CA on Sunday. On the bill with Willie were Bob Dylan, Billy Strings, Sierra Hull, and Lily Meola.

Willie and Micah

Willie was backed by a tight version of his Family band, with son Micah on rhythm and lead guitar and 50+-year tourmate Mickey Raphael on frequent harmonica leads. His set featured the expected staples, including his trademark opener “Whisky River” and hits like “On the Road Again” and “Georgia on My Mind.” The crowd laughed and sang along to Willie’s marijuana-is-life anthem “Roll Me Up” and Micah’s “Everything is Bullshit.”

Willie and everyone keeping the circle from being unbroken

Willie (yes, I’m going with a first-name basis for this legend) is looking more and more like Keith Richards every day – but like that Glimmer Twin, the ol’ Texan keeps truckin’ on. (In fact, Willie’s official tour page on his website says he is “Always on the road again.”) On Sunday, the cowboy crooner frequently turned from the mic to cough into a dark kerchief and he rested his voice frequently to let Micah or Waylon Payne sing a song. And let’s face it, his solos on Trigger, Willie’s Martin N-20 nylon string companion since 1969, are not as vibrant as they once were.

Willie!

But God love him, this is Willie Nelson at 92! We should all be so lucky to have our circle continue unbroken to such a seasoned age.

Willie Nelson

Bob Dylan is still on the road too. As he has for the past few years, Dylan stayed behind an upright piano on a dimly lit stage to run through a set of reworked hits, some less well-known gems from his catalog, and a few interesting covers.

Bob Dylan

His band members kept an eye on the icon to keep up with – or slow down to meet – his improvisational lyrical changes and unexpected rhythms. The words to “Simple Twist of Fate,” for instance, were twisted a bit by Dylan. And during the opening “Things Have Changed” (Dylan won an Oscar for that one!), the band seemed uncertain if their maestro was going to keep the song moving forward after each chorus-ending pause. The band seems simultaneously in awe and afraid of the Nobel laureate in their midst.

Bob and his band

The fans hoping for hits got to hear a few familiar songs like “All Along the Watchtower.” Country aficionados got to hear a cover of Charlie Rich’s “I’ll Make it All Up to You.” And despite being hard to see in the low lighting, Dylan’s voice sounded stronger and more melodic than it has in years. Sure, he’s only 83 (a spring chicken compared to Willie), and it looks like he’s expecting to play before live audiences for a few decades still to come.

Bob Dylan

Billy Strings and his band preceded Dylan with 70 minutes of kick-ass newgrass. Not unlike the superstars on the bill, Strings is starting to look a bit older, losing some of his cherubic boyishness. But his shit-eating grin and furiously magnificent picking are as indescribably magical as ever.

Billy Strings

Strings let the band take a breather toward the end of the set to sit for a solo turn, first on banjo and then on guitar. One of those tunes was “Matty Groves,” an incredibly long and tragic tale by Doc Watson well told by Strings.

Billy Strings and his amazing bandmates

Royal Masat (Billy Strings’ bandmate)

Bringing the band back, Strings and Co. played Dave Alvin’s “King of California” and closed with their own “Gone a Long Time.” For Strings fans, it was just a mere taste of his three-hour marathon shows – but for newbies, it’s easy to image they ran home to check him out on Spotify.

Billy Failing, Billy Strings, and Alex Hargreaves

Billy Strings

The highlights of Sierra Hull’s set were (in no particular order) (a) her covers of Tears for Fears’ “Mad World” and Bela Flek and the Flecktones “Stomping Grounds,” and (b) Hull’s own song “Spitfire” from her 2025 album A Tip Toe High Wire. Hard to say which is better, her Alison Krauss clear-as-daylight voice or her truly divine mandolin picking. But it’s no surprise to those of us who saw a barely-20-something Hull at the High Sierra Music Festival over a decade ago or checked her out even earlier when she was winning all sorts of bluegrass pickin’ awards in her teens: Hull is the real bluegrass deal.

Sierra Hull

I missed opener Lily Meola’s set due to traffic, but I did see her sitting on the ground next to some folks in the fourth row to whom she gave some killer tickets. One of those folks (she said her name is Lisa) told me she is a part-time limo driver, and she picked up Meola the night before from the airport. The singer insisted Lisa bring her family to the show and then came out to say hi and sit next to them for a few songs during Dylan’s set. Now that’s cool.