Widespread Panic Drummer Duane Trucks Joins Billy Strings In Athens

Billy Strings brought his winter tour to Athens’ Georgia Theatre last night for a sold-out concert benefiting Nuçi’s Space. Strings welcomed Widespread Panic drummer Duane Trucks to accompany his band on the final five songs of Tuesday’s second set.

Duane Trucks previously performed with Strings at the guitarist’s “Away From the Shire” finale on Halloween 2022 in Asheville. “Don’t get all pissed, there just a couple of drums,” Strings exclaimed as his crew set up Duane’s kit. “I know this is supposed to be a nice little humble bluegrass concert here, but we got a buddy who’s around here … we found him sniffing around the back alleyway,” Strings quipped to start his introduction of Duane Trucks. “He just weaseled his way in here and made himself right at home.”

Once Duane was ready to roll, and after Strings shouted out his crew, the guest spot began with a gorgeous cover of Pink Floyd’s “Fearless.” Billy Strings and bandmates mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjoist Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves then teamed with Duane Trucks on the location-appropriate “Bringing In The Georgia Mail.” Trucks, utilizing a small kit and playing with brushes, also added to the oft-paired originals “Running The Route” and “Running” as well as a take on the Widespread Panic classic “All Time Low” to close last night’s second set.

Earlier in the night, the five-piece kicked off the show with a 13-song first set that mixed career-spanning originals including “Everything’s The Same,” “Thirst Mutilator,” “Fire Line” and “Hollow Heart” with such covers as The Dillards’ “There Is A Time,” Larry Sparks’ “John Deere Tractor” and Chris Henry’s “West Dakota Rose.” Billy Strings, who prodded the audience for requests, also dusted off his rendition of the Utah Phillips-penned “Rock Salt & Nails” for the first time since April 4, 2020 within Tuesday’s opening stanza.

Billy Strings went solo to launch last night’s second set with a run of seven covers. The guitarist offered the Tony Rice-popularized “Church Street Blues” to get the frame underway just days after playing Tony Rice’s storied #58957 Martin Guitar in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. “Church Street Blues,” which was written and originally recorded by Norman Blake, last saw action on April 4, 2020. Solo versions of the traditional “Let The Cocaine Be,” Blaze Foley’s “Cold Cold World,” Townes Van Zandt’s “Two Girls,” Jamey Johnson’s “Lonely At The Top” and a segment linking the traditional “Beaumont Rag” with “Black Mountain Rag” followed.

Strings’ band returned to the stage for the next four songs, including an adventurous “Hide & Seek,” before the extended collaboration with Duane Trucks. The quintet gathered around a single mic to get yesterday’s encore underway with traditional songs “If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart” and “Standing In The Need Of Prayer.” The former saw Billy reference his guest’s band by alternating a lyric to “You’ll live a life of fear and manic, if you listen to Widepread Panic.” Strings grabbed his Casio DG-20 digital guitar for a show-closing “Home Of The Red Fox” dubbed “Home Of The Red Fox 3000.”

Watch fan-shot video of last night’s “Home Of The Red Fox 3000” finale as well as pro-shot video from the start of the show via nugs.net below:

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set One: Everything’s The Same, Thirst Mutilator > Taking Water, On The Line > Train 45, Rock Salt & Nails, Heartbeat Of America, There Is A Time, Slow Train, John Deere Tractor, West Dakota Rose, Fire Line [1] > Ice Bridges, Hollow Heart

Set Two: Church Street Blues [2], Let The Cocaine Be [2], Cold Cold World [2], Two Girls [2], Lonely At The Top [2], Beaumont Rag [2], Black Mountain Rag [2], Pretty Daughter [3], Run Down, While I’m Waiting Here > Hide & Seek, Fearless [4], Bringing In The Georgia Mail [4], Running The Route [4] > Running [4], All Time Low [4]

Encore: If Your Hair Is Too Long, There’s Sin In Your Heart [5, 8], Standing In The Need Of Prayer [5], Home Of The Red Fox 3000 [6, 7]

• [1] – “Red Hot Mama” (Parliament-Funkadelic) tease
• [2] – Billy Strings solo
• [3] – Band rejoins Billy on stage
• [4] – With Duane Trucks on drums
• [5] – Single mic
• [6] – Billy Strings on the Casio DG-20
• [7] – FTP
• [8] – “You’ll live a life of fear and manic, if you listen to Widespread Panic” lyric change