Billy Strings Debuts Bob Dylan Cover In St. Augustine

Watch Billy on a FTP cover of Dylan’s “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine” and more.

By Nate Todd Apr 30, 2022 9:26 am PDT

Billy Strings kicked off a three-night run at St. Augustine Amphitheater in St. Augustine, Florida on Friday. Billy and the band unveiled an apt cover of Bob Dylan’s “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine.”

Billy and company — mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat and banjo player Billy Failing — launched the show with the favorite “Dust In A Baggie.” The quartet then delivered Bob Dylan’s “I Dreamed I Saw St. Augustine” for the first time. The song appears on Dylan’s 1967 album John Wesley Harding. Billy led the band through the first couple verses before taking a twangy solo. He then kicked it over to Walker who added some tasty mando work before Billy brought the song home. The quartet then jumped into the instrumental “Thirst Mutilator” which fittingly headed into “Taking Water.”

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Next came “Red Daisy” from Billy’s 2021 album Renewal before getting into “Thunder,” the composition Billy provided for a Robert Hunter lyric. Billy reeled off some characteristically lightning-quick licks before the band dropped into a vibey groove that escalated quickly with Billy utilizing some overdrive effects and delivering some smoking stuff as the jam built and melted back into a dreamy sequence that ramped up once again into the final lyrics. The first set also included “Love Like Me,” a pairing of “Bronzeback” and “Know It All” and The Doc Watson-recorded “Miss The Mississippi And You” before closing out with “Black Mountain Rag.”

The second set got underway with just the second rendition of the unreleased original “Gone A Long Time.” After another Doc Watson nod in “Streamline Cannonball,” Billy and the band embarked on a three-song seamless section of “While I’m Waiting Here,” the instrumental “Pyramid Country” and a cover of “Airmail Special.” Renewal’s “This Old World” followed ahead of a “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” which included elements of “Jerusalem Ridge.”

A coupling of the traditional “Let The Cocaine Be” and “Must Be Seven” came next ahead of Jeff Austin’s “15 Steps,” the late musician’s birthday was April 25. Strings wrapped the second frame with “On The Line.” Billy and company returned to kick off the encore with the Grateful Dead’s “Wharf Rat,” which saw Strings tearing things up with some effects before capping off the evening with the Larry Sparks-released “Blues Stay Away From Me.”

Watch fan shot video of the Dylan debut, “Thunder” and “Wharf Rat” below:


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Doug Heck (See 39 videos)
Billy Strings (See 861 videos)

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Doug Heck (See 39 videos)
Billy Strings (See 861 videos)

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Billy the Kid (See 21 videos)
Billy Strings (See 861 videos)

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set One: Dust in a Baggie, I Dreamed I Saw St Augustine (1) > Thirst Mutilator > Taking Water, Red Daisy, Thunder, Love Like Me, Whisper My Name, Bronzeback > Know It All, Gold Rush, Miss the Mississippi and You, Black Mountain Rag

Set Two: Gone a Long Time, Streamline Cannonball, While I’m Waiting Here > Pyramid Country > Airmail Special, This Old World, Turmoil & Tinfoil (2), Let the Cocaine Be, Must Be Seven — 15 Steps, On the Line

E: Wharf Rat, Blues Stay Away from Me

Notes:

(1) FTP – Bob Dylan

(2) Jerusalem Ridge tease

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