I’d heard the name Billy Strings once or twice over the past couple of years, but it wasn’t until I moved to Nashville in November of 2024 and started listening to WMOT that he really came onto my radar.
After hearing a song or two on WMOT I looked him up on YouTube and started listening to more of his work. Then I did some research into his upbringing and background. I concluded that Billy Strings is the real deal. He’s not only a great musician and songwriter, he’s a humble, everyday guy.
In fact, he reminds me of how my life was back in the early 1990s, when I lived in a 20-foot trailer in the orchards near Wenatchee, Washington. My friends would come over and we’d just jam together and have fun. It feels like if he were around back then he would have fit right in. But he was born in 1992.
After I learned more about Billy, I discovered he was playing at the Bridgestone Arena in Nashville on the same day I needed to go into Vanderbilt for an appointment with a blood cancer specialist. I have polycythemia vera. So, I decided to check out the Billy Strings show. After all, he’s been selling out multiple nights in cities across America. He must be doing something right.
What I discovered was treasure.
It’s hard to explain exactly what Billy Strings does musically. But it’s easy to say it all starts with traditional bluegrass. Who’d have thunk? Billy learned a lot from his stepdad who was steeped in the old bluegrass greats. His band consists of a traditional bluegrass lineup: guitar, bass, mandolin, banjo, and fiddle. There was a guest resonator (dobro) player, too.
They played great traditional bluegrass music. But they did more. Here’s where things get different. Billy Strings takes bluegrass to new heights. I’m not sure it remains bluegrass. It goes off in multiple musical directions: Southern rock, blues, psychedelic, folk, but most of all “jam band.” Billy has as much in common with bands like The Grateful Dead and Phish as he does with bluegrass.
Some might think that’s an abomination to the bluegrass tradition. I would disagree. Why? Because he always comes back to his roots.
The show was fabulous. The musicians were spot on. The lights were creative and psychedelic but not overly annoying. In the end, Billy had one mic set up at center stage and the band played around it in the traditional bluegrass style. So not only is Billy putting on great shows for thousands of people, he’s introducing many to music they’d have probably never known: the world of classic bluegrass and country blues.
I for one was fully impressed. – dse
- Learn more about creativity
- Get new Anderhill music first
- Get special discounts
- Sign up for the newsletter