Billy Strings Covers ‘King of the Hill’ Theme for Reboot

Billy Strings is a true man of the people. In his rapid ascent to the forefront of bluegrass, the quick-picking firebrand has followed his eclectic taste and good nature to connections with the likes of Willie Nelson, Primus, Phish, Post Malone, TOOL and, just last weekend, Dead & Company. Now, traditional torchbearer has taken his talents from the stage to the screen by recording his version of the King of the Hill theme for the beloved animated series’ long-awaited reboot.

Strings’ cover of “Yahoos and Triangles,” the hooting and hollering race-pace ditty commissioned for the original program in 1997, plays over the end credits of King of the Hill’s 14th season, which premiered yesterday, August 4. Alongside his acoustic shredding, Billy enlisted the talents of his tried-and-true backing band of Billy Failing on banjo, Jarrod Walker on mandolin, Royal Masat on bass and Alex Hargreaves on fiddle. The quintet’s tight sound is fleshed out further by contributions from banjoist Russ Carons, drummer Jamie Dick and fiddler Billy Contreras, who recently joined the Toy Factory Project alongside Marcus King and Paul Riddle. The iconic original theme by The Refreshments still plays over the updated opening credits, just as it did from 1997-2009.

Mike Judge’s King of the Hill revival returns to the life of lawn-mowing, grill-tending, propane-and-propane-accessories salesman Hank Hill 16 years after the events of the show’s original finale. While the day-to-day of Hill, his wife Peggy (Kathy Najimy) and son Bobby (Pamela Adlon) was once a comforting view of Southern suburbia primed for slice-of-life satire, the new season finds the family in a very different America. Other returning series regulars include Bill Dautrieve (Stephen Root), Cotton Hill (Toby Huss), Kahn Souphanousinphone (Ronny Chieng) and Minh Souphanousinphone (Lauren Tom).

Strings is the latest in a long series of musicians who contributed to King of the Hill, most notably following Tom Petty, who played the supporting character Lucky, and Chuck Mangione, who regularly appeared as himself.