Billy Strings Covers Grateful Dead For Bob Weir In Georgia

Billy Strings began his 2026 Winter Tour at Akins Ford Arena in Athens, Georgia on Friday. The guitarist’s first show since the passing of Bob Weir featured an encore tribute to the Grateful Dead co-founder.

Billy Strings, mandolinist Jarrod Walker, bassist Royal Masat, banjo player Billy Failing and fiddler Alex Hargreaves initiated the concert with a fitting rendition of the bluegrass standard “Bringing In The Georgia Mail.” Originals in the first set included “The Fire On My Tongue,” “Long Forgotten Dream,” “Taking Water,” “Ice Bridges,” “Turmoil & Tinfoil” and closer “Heartbeat Of America.”

The first frame also saw a breakout of Gordon Lightfoot‘s “Ten Degrees & Getting Colder” and a cover of Athens-born band and Billy String collaborators Widespread Panic in the form of “All Time Low,” which saw Billy wishing WSP a happy 40th anniversary in 2026.

Set two got underway with another Peach State nod, “Georgia Buck,” performed solo by Strings on clawhammer banjo. Billy kept it solo for his tune about a run-in with the law with Leftover Salmon's‘s Vince Herman, “Catch and Release,” before Failing joined him for “Dos Banjos.”

Following second set closer, “Hide and Seek,” Billy and the band returned to launch the encore with “Me and My Uncle.” While not a Grateful Dead original, the song penned by John Phillips was one of the band’s staple covers led by Bobby Weir. Billy Strings last played “Me and My Uncle” on March 5, 2022 for a 346 show gap.

In 2023, fans noticed that Strings was no longer covering the Grateful Dead with Billy himself chiming in on an online discussion. His reason for not doing Dead was two-fold, which he explained in a now-famous comment.

One: “[J]ust too many pigs on the teet. There are sooo many bands trying to suckle off the dead. I’ll leave that to them.”

Two: “[I]t chaps my ass when I hear people hollering requests for dead songs at my shows. I want them to scream dust in a baggie not fucking Althea. I just wanted to see how many people would stick around for the music that I write and the bluegrass that I love to play.”

Billy also spoke about his love for the Grateful Dead: “I’m a huge GD fan and I love them guys dearly.”

Obviously, Friday’s Bob Weir tribute in Athens was an appropriate exception to the rule Strings established. After “Me and My Uncle,” the quintet delivered one of Weir’s signature originals written with lyricist John Barlow, “Cassidy.”

Watch Billy Strings’ encore tribute to Bob Weir below:

Photos

Setlist (via BillyBase)

Set 1: Bringing In The Georgia Mail [1], The Fire On My Tongue, Long Forgotten Dream, Crossing Muddy Waters, Taking Water, Ice Bridges, Ten Degrees & Getting Colder [2], Turmoil & Tinfoil, All Time Low [3], Heartbeat Of America

Set 2: Georgia Buck [4], Catch and Release [5], Dos Banjos [6], Pyramid Country [7], Ole Slew Foot, Hellbender, Fire Line, Reuben’s Train, My Alice, Hide and Seek

Encore: Me & My Uncle [8,10], Cassidy [9]

Notes:

• 1. Last Time Played 2025-04-11 | 70 show gap
• 2. Last Time Played 2024-05-18 | 127 show gap
• 3. Billy wished a “Happy Birthday” to Widespread Panic on their 40th anniversary
• 4. Billy Strings solo on clawhammer banjo
• 5. Billy Strings solo
• 6. Dos Billys (Billy Strings on clawhammer banjo and Billy Failing on banjo)
• 7. “Don’t Lie” (Greensky Bluegrass) tease
• 8. Last Time Played 2022-03-05 | 346 show gap
• 9. Last Time Played 2022-05-07 | 323 show gap
• 10. This encore was a long-awaited return to Grateful Dead covers for fans, played in honor of Bob Weir, a founding member of the Grateful Dead who passed away on January 10, 2026.

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