Billy & The Kids With Billy Strings & James Casey Welcome Carlos Santana For Grateful Mahalo Finale

Billy & The Kids concluded their “Grateful Mahalo: Billy Kreutzmann’s 75th Birthday Pa’ina” livestream series from Kauai, Hawaii on Sunday. While guitarist Billy Strings and Trey Anastasio Band saxophonist James Casey were once again on hand, the ensemble was also joined by legendary guitarist Carlos Santana. Last night’s “Grateful Mahalo” broadcast ended with an acoustic jam featuring Billy & The Kids, Strings and The String Cheese Incident‘s Bill Nershi.

Carlos Santana, Billy Strings, James Casey and Billy & The Kids — Grateful Dead drummer Bill Kreutzmann, guitarist Tom Hamilton (JRAD/Ghost Light), keyboardist Aron Magner (the Disco Biscuits) and bassist Reed Mathis (Electric Beethoven) — opened their lone set with an extended “Scarlet Begonias.” The ensemble deviated from the usual move into “Fire On The Mountain” and instead worked “Scarlet” into an “Iko Iko” sung by Strings.

A powerful take on “The Other One” that started with an instrumental jam on “My Favorite Things” came out of “Iko Iko.” The ensemble fit an instrumental “Good Morning Little Schoolgirl” into “The Other One” and then delivered a “Fire On The Mountain” featuring solos from all three guitarists. Next, Carlos directed the group through an instrumental that gave way to a vocal-less rendition of The Doors’ “Riders On The Storm.” A bit of a breather followed as Strings handled lead vocals on a gorgeous “China Doll.” It was then Casey’s turn to step into the spotlight as he sang The Beatles’ “Dear Prudence” before “It Hurts Me Too” brought the main set to a close.

Last night’s encore consisted of a Hamiton-sung “Cold Rain & Snow” and Strings handling vocals on “Alabama Getaway.” A birthday toast to Kreutzmann was provided by impresario Peter Shapiro ahead of the bonus acoustic jam. The acoustic jam featuring Strings, Nershi and Billy & The Kids began with “Ripple.” The musicians then performed “To Lay Me Down” and “Peggy-O” with Strings singing the former and Nershi singing the latter. The acoustic jam ended with a cover of Doc Watson’s “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town.” Watch the start of Sunday’s main set and acoustic jam below via FANS.live: