Metal-loving bluegrass star Billy Strings staged his own Ionia Freak Fair festival in Ionia, Michigan, over the weekend. While he performed two main-stage sets at the sold-out event on the Ionia Fairgrounds, his heaviest performance of the weekend was a guest spot with Canadian tech-death masters Cryptopsy.
Strings is a devoted metal fiend, and booked a lineup of heavy acts for his “Pyramid Scheme” pinball and metal tent. This included Cryptopsy, Bane, For The Fallen Dreams, Flesh And Blood Robot, Heartsick, and See You Next Tuesday.
Cryptopsy headlined the tent on Saturday night (August 29th), and Strings strapped-up to hit a guitar solo on their classic “Open Face Surgery” track, from 1994’s Blasphemy Made Flesh. Strings had previously popped up on a studio medley from 2025 called “Blasphemy Made Fresh,” likewise hitting the solo on the “Open Face Surgery” section.
“Can not [sic] believe I got to play with Cryptopsy,” he wrote in a Facebook reel of his incredibly ripping tag-team moment with the Montreal, Quebec, meal act.
You’ll find footage of their surgical intensity up above and down below.