Trevor Shepich Guests With Billy Strings On Phish & Grateful Dead Covers In Louisville

Billy Strings and his band closed out a three-night stand at Waterfront Park in Louisville on Sunday with help from guitarist Trevor Shepich. Strings noticed Shepich in the crowd during the first two nights and invited the young guitarist to guest on covers of Phish‘s “Back On The Train” and the Grateful Dead‘s “Bird Song” towards the end of last night’s first set.

Strings, bassist Royal Masat, mandolinist Jarrod Walker and banjo player Billy Failing opened their Louisville finale with recently debuted originals “Fire On My Tongue” and “Morning Light.” The quartet then followed “Slow Train” with their third ever “This Old World,” another new original. From there, Strings and his band worked “Thirst Mutilator” into “I Know You’re Married (But I Still Love You),” a song by Don Reno & Bill Harrell Billy last played on December 14, 2018.

Billy took to the mic as Shepich emerged after a cover of Flatt & Scruggs’ “Doin’ My Time.” “I’ve been seeing Trevor around the scene for a bit now, picking all over the place. He’s a great player,” Strings explained. “I saw him out here in the crowd the last two nights and figured let’s jam.” The two guitarists expertly exchanged riffs throughout the “Back On The Train” and “Bird Song” jams. Shepich then departed, leaving the quartet to end the first set with “Know It All.”

The four-piece began the final set of the weekend with more recently debuted originals, “Secrets” and “Running The Route.” The latter gave way to “Running” from Strings’ Grammy-winning 2020 album, Home. Next, Strings and company delivered their first split “Help On The Way”/”Slipknot!”/”Franklin’s Tower” suite. “Help” bled into Bob Dylan’s “Tangled Up In Blue,” played one day before Bob’s 80th birthday and then a take on John Hartford’s “All Fall Down” came between “Slipknot!” and “Franklin’s Tower.” Billy and his mates capped the set with jam vehicle “Meet Me At Creek” and said farewell with a encore featuring a cover of the Tom Petty classic “Time To Move On.”

Billy Strings returns to the stage later this week at The Bonnaroo Farm in Manchester, Tennessee. Watch video highlights from last night’s show below: