Billy & Buena Vista Part 1
Billy in Buena Vista with Bonfire. It’s a time of Renewal and not just fall and its panoply of colored leaves. Billy Strings’ annual festival has adopted the Renewal moniker and Bonfire Entertainment continues to renew the serene spot for the Billy tradition nestled in the Rocky Mountains. The story always starts with Billy and […]
Billy & His Mother, Debra Apostol, Part 2
“If it’s something he feels in his heart…” Debra Apostol and Terry Barber knew right away. And ever since they watched little Boomer (Billy Strings’ family nickname) strumming away in his high chair, keeping the rhythm of any song he heard, they knew he was a guitar player. And like the best mothers, Debra supported her […]
Billy & Prison Guitar Part 2
To truly grasp the passion of the project known as Prison Guitar, fans must first learn about a longtime friend of Billy’s: lifelong learner, luthier and Scale Model Guitars founder Dave Johnson in Nashville, TN. “Luthiers are a special breed of people. They don’t build guitars for the money, and they definitely don’t build them […]
Billy & Halloween Part 2
As exciting as it is learning about early Billy Strings shows and imagining those small crowds taking in such big moments, to understand Billy Strings Halloween shows has grown to mean experiencing the present larger-than-life events and dreaming about what Billy and his team could possibly do to top themselves the next year. For three […]
Billy & Halloween Part 1
Like a Prime-Time wrestling Event, Billy Strings Halloweens bring together his greatest elements and these events have become recognized as once-in-a-lifetime spectacles, not to be missed. “Give Billy Strings the Halloween Championship Belt,” Rolling Stone Magazine wrote the day after his 2023 Van Andel Scramble Wrestling-themed event. Billy’s showmanship and deep musical knowledge go on […]
Billy & Prison Guitar Part 1
Bluegrass is a story of music and family. Picking and partying. From the pews of the Mother Church (Ryman Auditorium) in TN to the dusty parking lots of Bluegrass Festivals across the country. Stringed instruments, often acoustic guitars, fill the air and have for centuries. So it may come as a surprise when Bluegrass star, […]
Billy & ‘Thirst Mutilator’
Many fans in 2023 immediately associate Billy Strings’ song “Thirst Mutilator” not just with his early EP but also with his original Shorts Brewing drink with the same name, released in June 2022. “The name Thirst Mutilator was inspired by a song on Strings’ 2016 self-titled EP,” My North News wrote following the drink’s 2022 […]
Billy & The IBMA
Entertainer of the Year (2021 & 2022). Guitar Player of the Year (2019 & 2021). New Artist of the Year (2019). Song of the Year — ”Red Daisy” — (2022). Momentum Awards’ Instrumentalist of the Year (2016). Billy Strings’ relationship with the International Bluegrass Music Association (IBMA) is long, rich and one that continues to […]
Billy & Heavy Metal
Giggles roll across the lawn as kids run past an elderly couple at the fountain ambling toward the makeshift stage on a porch, where familiar old-time bluegrass fills the air. After gentle, timed applauses, the guitarist suddenly jolts the crowd as he thrashes his head with his fingers blazing across the fret board. The audience […]
Billy & His Mother, Debra Apostol, Part 1
In any Billy Strings crowd a fan can come across a wide range of fans—old, young, bluegrass, newgrass, jamband, rock and metal, the first-timer and the goat celebrating their 100th show. Little do many know that among this crowd, they may also have brushed shoulders with the reason Billy is there at all—his mother, Debra […]
Billy & His Father, Terry Barber, Part 2
In addition to those two integral moments when Terry Barber taught his son about David Grisman and Black Sabbath, Strings has recalled another moment when his father guided his playing and the course of his life. As Billy told WBUR in 2021, when he was six, he and his dad, clad in just their underwear, […]
Billy & His Father, Terry Barber, Part 1
“You need to know this.” Like most kids, Billy likely heard this many times, but he specifically recalls two integral moments in his early listening career. His father, Terry Barber, called him over from across the trailer and said, “listen son, this is important; you need to know this.” The first time Billy learned about […]
Billy & 33
When a fan of Billy Strings first hears the number 33, it’s just another number. But after learning the Apostol family history and the soaring spiritual significance of the number, it’s evident why 33 has become known as Billy Strings’ number. Prompted by years of the same question from numerous new fans, Billy Strings’ Facebook […]
Billy & Billy Strings
Born William Lee Apostol, October 3, 1992, fans have come to know Apostol more commonly by his stage name: Billy Strings. The history of his name, like most things for Billy, involves family, guitar picking and eventually a live gig. Similar to his stage name holding personal significance, Billy’s given name does as well. “I […]