Billy Strings Covers Willie Nelson, Grateful Dead & More In Austin

Guitarist Billy Strings and his band — mandolinist Jarrod Walker, banjoist Billy Failing and bassist Royal Masat — played a special afternoon show on Sunday for Luck Reunion outside the Long Center For The Performing Arts in Austin. The quartet brought the concert to a close by honoring a local legend as they dusted off a pair of Willie Nelson covers for the first time since 2019.

The ensemble began their first of two sets with the recently debuted original “Red Daisy.” A cover of Doc Watson’s “Way Downtown” was then followed by a “Pyramid Country” the group jammed into the traditional “Little Maggie.” Next up came the pairing of “Hellbender” and “Wargasm,” two songs premiered in February at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York.

Billy and company ended yesterday’s opening frame with a string of covers. Up first were takes on Larry Sparks’ “John Deere Tractor” and Doc Watson’s “Texas Gales.” The four-piece then offered their first rendition of The Infamous Stringdusters’ “No More To Leave You Behind” of 2020 and went on to finish the set with Flatt & Scruggs’ “Doin’ My Time.”

Strings and his crew kicked off Sunday’s second set with “Taking Water” from their Grammy-winning Home LP. The quartet then segued into the recently debuted original “Ice Bridges.” A run of covers followed including the Grateful Dead’s “Loser” and Earl Scruggs’ “Ground Speed” as well as a rendition of John Hartford’s “All Fall Down” that gave way to the Dead’s “Slipknot!,” which in turn bled into Peter Rowan’s “Midnight Moonlight.”

The four-piece honored Bill Monroe by covering “Dusty Miller” and then served up a take on The Stanley Brothers’ “Paul And Silas.” Strings’ fourth ever “Hide & Seek” brought the second set to its conclusion. Billy and the band returned to the stage for a two-song encore in which they paid tribute to legendary Texas musician Willie Nelson. The group played both “Devil In A Sleeping Bag” and “On The Road Again” to end the evening.

Watch video from Sunday’s encore below: