Billy Strings Covers Widespread Panic In Athens

Billy Strings covered hometown rockers Widespread Panic on Saturday night at the Georgia Theatre in Athens, Georgia. Strings and his band mates opened their second set with the WSP favorite “All Time Low.”

Strings and banjoist Billy Failing, bassist Royal Masat and mandolinist Jarrod Walker kicked off the opening set with “Hollow Heart,” one of the songs on Strings’ upcoming new album, Home. The first set also featured fellow new-album cuts “Taking Water” and “Away From The Mire.” Strings gave a nod to his surroundings by covering Flatt & Scruggs’ “Bringin’ In The Georgia Mail” and the set drew to a close with “Salty Dog Blues.”

Strings, who recently sat-in with Widespread Panic at The Ryman Auditorium, began Saturday’s second set with Panic’s “All Time Low.” The rest of the set mixed covers like New Grass Revival’s “This Heart of Mine,” Little Feat’s “Willin’” and (again noting the location) Bill Monroe’s “My Little Georgia Rose,” with songs from Strings’ 2017 album Turmoil & Tinfoil including “Dealing Despair,” “On The Line” and the set-closing title track. Cher’s “Believe” was selected for the evening’s encore.

Watch a portion of “All Time Low” captured by mattattack426 and approvingly shared by WSP bassist Dave Schools below:

Here’s more audience-shot footage of “All Time Low” via T Shaw’s Progressive Bluegrass:

Setlist