Watch Derek Trucks & Nels Cline Shred On Wilco’s ‘Impossible Germany’ In St. Augustine

Tedeschi Trucks Band guitarist Derek Trucks was Wilco‘s special guest on Wednesday at The St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, Florida. Trucks came out for the evening’s first encore featuring “California Stars” and an incendiary version of “Impossible Germany.”

Wilco’s visit to St. Augustine was the second of three consecutive shows in Florida for the Chicago-based band. They followed their inaugural Reykjavik residency with a two-week Southeast tour that began last weekend at the High Water Festival and continues this weekend in Alabama and Georgia.

Jacksonville resident Derek Trucks headed to St. Augustine on Wednesday to repay Wilco guitarist Nels Cline for his multiple appearances with Tedeschi Trucks Band. Cline made his TTB debut at New York City's Beacon Theatre in October 2019 and repeated the feat at Red Rocks and the Beacon Theatre in 2021.

The 1998 gem “California Stars” from their Mermaid Avenue collaboration with Billy Bragg is oft used by Wilco as a platform for guest appearances. Derek had a chance to shine with slide in hand on his signature Gibson SG. However, that was just the appetizer for the main course.

“Impossible Germany” appears on 2007’s Sky Blue Sky, the first album to feature contributions from Cline. “Never delivered the same way twice, Cline’s ‘Impossible Germany’ solo is not only his opportunity to shine, it is also his chance to shred. And shred he often does,” wrote JamBase’s Andy Kahn in an article collecting eight outstanding “Impossible Germany” solos.

On Wednesday, Wilco added Derek Trucks’ otherworldly talents to the “Impossible Germany” mix. Cline started his solo with the string of licks that usually come at the beginning of the song. Then, he yielded to Trucks, who wowed while keeping the tempo at a reasonable pace. Nels and Derek engaged in a call-and-response for the ages as the guitarists and band built full heads of steam. Wilco frontman Jeff Tweedy had a huge grin in his prime position to watch the fretboard fireworks fly. Trucks and Cline perfectly paced the shredfest as they urged each other to great heights.

Watch fan-shot footage of “Impossible Germany” and “California Stars” featuring Derek Trucks below: