Billy Strings
A master of the guitar, banjo, and mandolin, Billy Strings is a singer and instrumentalist whose music starts with the sound and speed of bluegrass and folds in elements of rock, jazz, and psychedelia. Strings deals in acoustic music, but his lyrics are rooted in contemporary issues ("Dust in a Baggie" sounds like a classic bluegrass breakdown, but the lyrics deal with crystal meth addiction), and the music reinforces this fusion of past and present, melding modern melodic frameworks with fiddles and banjos. Strings' music was presented in its most traditional form on his 2016 self-titled EP, while 2019's Grammy-winning Home added a more rock-oriented production style and extended jams to his formula. 2021's Renewal (also Grammy-nominated) featured some of his most personal songwriting and ambitious music to date and 2022's Me/And/Dad found him celebrating his roots alongside his father, guitarist Terry Barber.
Billy Strings was born William Apostol in 1992 in Lansing, Michigan. When he was two years old, his father died from a heroin overdose. His mother eventually remarried and the family relocated to Morehead, Kentucky for a spell before later settling in Muir, a small town in Michigan. Strings' step-father Terry Barber and uncle were both accomplished musicians, and the youngster was surrounded by acoustic music practically from birth. At the age of four, Strings asked for a guitar, and he was soon learning to play a second-hand instrument that cost 25 dollars. By the time he was six, he was good enough to join his dad for bluegrass picking parties, and his aunt nicknamed him Billy Strings. By the time he was in middle school, he had picked up an electric guitar and was playing in a heavy metal band. However, it led him into a circle of friends who were abusing drugs, and Strings believed it was leading him into a dark place.
Determined to find a better path, Strings returned to playing bluegrass, and after completing high school, he moved to Traverse City, a city in Northern Michigan with a lively music and art scene. When Strings performed at an open-mike night at a club called the Hayloft, local pickers were impressed with his skills, and he soon found a mentor and picking partner in mandolinist Don Julin, who recorded a duo album with Strings titled Rock of Ages. (Strings also independently released a home-brewed solo album in 2014, Fiddle Tune X.) He also played with a bluegrass combo called M-23 Strings, and earned a reputation as one of the most promising talents in the Mitten State.
In early 2016, Strings left Traverse City for Nashville, where the talented newcomer did not go unnoticed. In September 2017, he released Turmoil & Tinfoil, an effort that found him adding a wider variety of sounds and influences to his music. The album was produced by Glenn Brown, who had previously worked with Greensky Bluegrass and Luke Winslow-King. After landing a deal with roots music specialists Rounder Records, Strings returned in 2019 with his second solo outing, Home. It reached number one on Billboard's bluegrass albums chart and won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album. Due to the COVID-19 shutdown of 2020, Strings had more time to devote to his songwriting, and 2021's Renewal found him exploring darker and more personal themes as well as broadening the instrumental palette of his band. It garnered him a further Grammy nomination and again topped the bluegrass chart. Strings' next project was also personal, but for a different reason. Building from a deep well of shared repertoire, he and his step-father Terry Barber recorded 2022's collaborative Me/And/Dad at Nashville's Sound Emporium, trading licks, harmonies, and lead vocal duties alongside a veteran crew that included players like Jerry Douglas, Ron McCoury, and Rob McCoury.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
Artistas semelhantes
Discografia
18 álbum(ns) • Ordenado por Mais vendidos
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California Sober (feat. Willie Nelson)
Country - Lançado por Reprise em 28/04/2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
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Turmoil & Tinfoil
Country - Lançado por Apostol Recording Company em 22/09/2017
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Fiddle Tune X
Country - Lançado por Billy Strings & Don Julin em 01/10/2014
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Great Divide
Country - Lançado por River House Artists - Columbia Nashville em 01/02/2021
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Billy Strings | OurVinyl Sessions
Folk - Lançado por OurVinyl TV, Inc. em 15/10/2018
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
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All the Luck in the World
Billy Strings, Circles Around The Sun
Country - Lançado por Royal Potato Family em 26/06/2020
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Meet Me At The Creek / Pyramid Country / Must Be Seven / Meet Me At The Creek (Live at Lawrence Joel Veterans Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC 3/4/23)
Country - Lançado por Reprise em 08/12/2023
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Zelensky: The Man With The Iron Balls
Les Claypool, Eugene Hutz, Stewart Copeland, Sean Lennon, Sergey Ryabtsev, Billy Strings
Alternative & Indie - Lançado por Casa Gogol Records em 20/04/2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
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Me / And / Dad
Country - Lançado por Rounder em 18/11/2022
Qualidade de CD de 16 bits 44.1 kHz - Stereo