This 29-year-old BLUEGRASS BLAZER from western Michigan is a modern-day folk hero BY ALAN PAUL
BILLY STRINGS IS SIMPLY ONE OF THE MOST exciting young guitarists in decades. His career has exploded over the last couple of years, as he and his tight but loose trio of backing musicians have toured the country putting on remarkably dynamic shows that blow up anyone’s vision of stodgy bluegrass music.
Grounded in the traditional music, Strings, a 29-year-old from western Michigan whose real name is Billy Apostol, starts with bluegrass in his covers and most of his original music, before taking solos on wild flights of fancy, armed with a large pedal board and no fear of exploring any tone or realm of music, ably supported and egged on by his backing trio of Royal Massat (bass), Billy Failing (banjo) and Jarrod Walker (mandolin).
His approach to bluegrass and the stellar interaction of his band are reminiscent of the original Allman Brothers Band — not in sound, of course, but in conception. Starting with a deep respect for and commitment to a folk music form, taking it far out in the solos and landing right back on the riff, right back in the traditional form. It’s a groundbreaking approach that doesn’t sound radical because it comes so easily and naturally to Billy and company. It is not part of an intellectual exercise, but just that rare combination of a totally dedicated free spirit and a highly skilled, disciplined musician. We’re excited to see what comes next for Billy Strings, but first let’s explore how he got here.
Your dad spent his last 30 dollars buying you a guitar because you wanted one so bad at age 4 or so. What happened then?
He took me home and he taught me G, C and D, and he gave me a capo. Once I learned those three chords, I could play a couple of bluegrass songs. I already had the rhythm; the right hand thing was already kind of going on. I just had to learn where to put my fingers with my left hand and once I knew that, I was off to the races. Especially with bluegrass, being that a lot of it is three chords, I-IV-V. If you have a capo, you can play G, C and D and play just about any bluegrass song in any key. It took me a couple years and by the time I was six or seven years old, I could play some tunes. I could hang on rhythm, and that was my deal. I never played any solos, that was all my dad. I was strictly his little rhythm player. I think that gave me a really good foundation because I learned music by ear. But listening so much for the other stuff… that’s how I c
