billy strings has been on the outside of my peripheral vision for about 6 months or so, but i hadn’t taken the time to explore his work very much, until now. as i have mentioned before, i get tips on new music from lots of places. when i had four different people send me something about him in the last two weeks, i figured it was time to devote more time to this young phenom.

my first glimpses of him were when i would see him sitting in with other bluegrass musicians i was following, and often it would be dead cover songs. he has cut his teeth on the jam band festival scene, and has gradually built up his following by offering two set marathon sessions where he and his band will rotate covers of bluegrass icons like bill monroe, the stanley brothers and doc watson, to jam band heroes like the dead and phish, to unconventional bluegrass treatments of artists like the stones and jimmy cliff.

billy (born william apostol) grew up in northern michigan, where his stepfather was a local bluegrass musician and taught him the instrument at a very early age. he turned to heavy metal at one point, but that changed one day when he ‘borrowed’ his mom’s 72 chevelle and went for a ride in the country with a bottle of vodka. he was curious about a tape that he saw in her tape deck and put it in. ‘rank stranger’ by the stanley brothers started to play, and he just pulled over and listened to the song. soon he was getting back with his stepfather and returning to the genre.

his guitar prowess soon started getting the attention of people like del mccoury and david grisman, and he started opening shows for fellow michigan residents greensky bluegrass.

his latest was released in september and it features all original music. i got it the other day and listened to it on a recent roadtrip (to michigan, no less). it is solid, all the way through – and not just the music, as his songwriting is also great. much of the material draws on his experiences, both bad and good, growing up in small towns in the midwest. ‘enough to leave’ is about losing two high school friends to heroin overdoses within a week of each other.

quite a talent, and worth putting on your radar. he will be opening for jason isbell this summer. check him out.