Billy Strings

Billy Strings stands out as a vocalist and multi-instrumentalist skilled on guitar, banjo, and mandolin, building his sound from the tempos and textures of bluegrass while weaving in strains of rock, jazz, and psychedelia. Although grounded in acoustic forms, his words confront present-day realities, evident in “Dust in a Baggie,” which echoes a vintage bluegrass breakdown yet confronts crystal meth addiction; this blend of eras is underscored by pairing modern melodic frameworks with banjos and fiddles. His most traditional material surfaced on the self-titled 2016 EP, while the Grammy-winning Home from 2019 introduced rock-oriented production and extended jams. Renewal in 2021, also Grammy-nominated, delivered some of his most introspective songwriting alongside his most ambitious arrangements to that point, and Me/And/Dad from 2022 paired him with his father, guitarist Terry Barber, to celebrate shared roots. Strings inked a deal with Reprise in 2024 and, following his first live release, issued the expansive Jon Brion-produced Highway Prayers later that same year.

William Apostol entered the world in 1992 in Lansing, Michigan, as Billy Strings. At age two he lost his father to a heroin overdose. His mother later remarried, prompting a move to Morehead, Kentucky, for a time before the family settled in the small Michigan town of Muir. Stepfather Terry Barber and an uncle, both accomplished musicians, immersed the boy in acoustic music from infancy. At four he requested a guitar and soon practiced on a second-hand model purchased for twenty-five dollars. By six he could join his dad at bluegrass picking parties, prompting his aunt to bestow the nickname Billy Strings. In middle school he switched to electric guitar in a heavy metal band, yet the scene drew him toward peers engaged in drug use, a path he sensed was leading him astray.

Intent on charting a different course, Strings returned to bluegrass. After finishing high school he relocated to Traverse City, whose vibrant music and art community offered fresh opportunities. An open-mike appearance at the Hayloft club impressed local players and led to a mentorship with mandolinist Don Julin; the pair later recorded the duo album Rock of Ages. Strings also self-released the home-recorded Fiddle Tune X in 2014, performed with the bluegrass group M-23 Strings, and gained recognition as one of the Mitten State’s rising talents.

In early 2016 he departed Traverse City for Nashville, where the newcomer quickly drew attention. Turmoil & Tinfoil arrived in September 2017, expanding his sonic range through additional influences and produced by Glenn Brown, previously associated with Greensky Bluegrass and Luke Winslow-King. After signing with Rounder Records, Strings issued his second solo album, Home, in 2019; it reached number one on Billboard’s bluegrass albums chart and earned a Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album.

The 2020 COVID-19 shutdown granted extra time for songwriting, yielding 2021’s Renewal, which delved into darker, more personal themes and broadened his band’s instrumental colors. The set earned another Grammy nomination and again topped the bluegrass chart. His following project took a different personal turn: Me/And/Dad, recorded with stepfather Terry Barber at Nashville’s Sound Emporium in 2022, drew on a shared repertoire as the pair traded licks, harmonies, and lead vocals alongside veterans Jerry Douglas, Ron McCoury, and Rob McCoury.

In 2023 Strings teamed with country icon Willie Nelson for the Record Store Day single “California Sober,” pressed on green vinyl as a studio track; the duo also performed it on Long Story Short: Willie Nelson 90 (Live at the Hollywood Bowl), captured during Nelson’s ninetieth-birthday celebration at the Hollywood Bowl, where Strings additionally appeared on the B-side “Whiskey River.” That year he contributed to sessions with Leftover Salmon (Grass Roots), Dierks Bentley (Gravel & Gold), Michael Cleveland (Lovin’ of the Game), Andy Hall (Squareneck Soul), and Lindsay Lou (Queen of Time), and joined Molly Tuttle on “Listen to the Radio” for More Than a Whisper: Celebrating the Music of Nanci Griffith. He further recorded “Cabin Song” for the soundtrack to The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes, the fifth installment in the dystopian franchise.

Following his major-label signing with Reprise Records, Strings released the concert album Live, Vol. 1 in July 2024. Although celebrated for his live performances, he embraced studio possibilities on the subsequent full-length. Cut between Los Angeles and Nashville, the freewheeling Highway Prayers was co-produced by Jon Brion (Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann) and traversed an expansive stylistic spectrum. The twenty-track set, issued in September 2024, ventured well beyond the traditional bluegrass of 2022’s poignant Me/And/Dad; alongside Strings’ longtime band it featured contributions from Brion, Matt Chamberlin, and returning collaborator Jerry Douglas.