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Artist
Billy Strings
12+ albums
bluegrassfolkamericanacountryjamgrass
about
Billy Strings (born William Lee Apostol in Lansing, MI, on October 3, 1992) is an American guitarist and bluegrass musician. He won a Grammy Award in 2021. A master of the guitar, banjo, and mandolin, 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's music was presented in its most traditional form on his 2016 self-titled EP, 2019's Grammy-winning Home added a more rock-oriented production style and extended jams to his formula, and 2021's Renewal featured some of his most personal songwriting and ambitious music to date. Born in Lansing, Michigan, his family relocated to Morehead, Kentucky, for a spell before later settling in Muir, a small town in Michigan. Billy's father and uncle were both accomplished musicians, and the youngster was surrounded by acoustic music practically from birth. At the age of four, Billy asked his father 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
