Billy Strings got his 2021 Spring Tour underway with the first of three concerts at St. Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, Florida on Friday night. Billy played a number of songs from his Grammy-winning album Home as well as covers by The Rolling Stones, Little Feat and more.
Strings and company — bassist Royal Masat, mandolinist Jarrod Walker and banjoist Billy Failing — kicked off the show with the opening track, “Taking Water,” off Home. Strings did a bit of exploratory riffing before getting into the song proper. Next up, Billy and the band delivered “Bronzeback,” a new song unveiled on October 25, 2020 at the Ryman Auditorium which began with some quick runs from Walker. “Bronzeback” then led into “Must Be Seven.” The first cover of the evening arrived in the form of “I’ll Remember You, Love, in My Prayers” by William “Billy” Hayes. The staple “On The Line” followed ahead of a run of covers beginning with Jimmy Cliff’s “Sitting In Limbo,” Jerry Reed’s “The Likes Of Me” and the standard “This Heart Of Mine” which New Grass Revival recorded. The new tune “Wargasm,” which Strings debuted on February 24 during his Capitol Theatre run, came next, the tail end of which saw the band getting into a jam with Billy adding some overdriven guitar before Failing took over to close out the tune. Little Feat’s “Willin’” served as the penultimate song of the set ahead of the classic “Dust In A Baggie.” The band stretched their legs on the set closer with Strings utilizing some more effects over an extended guitar solo to bring the first frame to a close.
“Everything’s The Same” began the second set ahead of Yonder Mountain String Band’s “Sorrow Is A Highway.” A run of bluegrass classics kicked off with a well-jammed “Ernest T. Glass” by The Dillards which then segued into “Little Maggie” before cooling things down with “John Deere Tractor” by Larry Sparks. Billy got back to original material with “Highway Hypnosis,” which lived up to its name and featured a mesmerizing jam that got a little spooky as the band slowly built to a crescendo before heading back into the song. “Secrets” came next ahead of The Rolling Stones’ “Wild Horses,” which saw some tasty solos from Strings and Failing. Home’s “Away From The Mire” was the second longest excursion of the second set and saw Billy utilizing overdrive once again ahead of another peak before dropping back into the verse to bring the second set to a close. Billy and company would retake the stage for an encore of “Freedom,” which saw the group showing off their vocal abilities as they went unplugged to bring the evening a close.
Watch audience shot video of “Taking Water” and listen to the entire show via Z-Man below:
Setlist
Billy Strings at St. Augustine Amphitheatre
Set 1
- Taking Water
- Bronzeback Must Be Seven
- I’ll Remember You, Love, in My Prayers
- On the Line
- Sitting in Limbo
- The Likes of Me
- This Heart of Mine
- Wargasm
- Willin’
- Dust in a Baggie
Set 2
- Everything’s the Same
- Sorrow Is a Highway
- Ernest T. Grass Little Maggie
- John Deere Tractor
- Highway Hypnosis
- Secrets
- Wild Horses
- Away From the Mire
Encore
- Freedom
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