Billy Strings Escaped the Darkness. He’s Playing to Not Go Back. | The Interview

Billy Strings, the Grammy Award-winning singer and virtuoso guitarist, has a new album, “So Much for Goodbyes,” due out Aug. 28. He discussed the genesis of that album, among many other things, in a conversation with David Marchese.

Strings, whose real name is William Apostol, has broken ground by using the elements of traditional bluegrass to become an arena-filling phenomenon. Along the way he has also acquired a Deadhead-like legion of fans who follow his tours.

He grew up surrounded by poverty and drug addiction in small-town Michigan, and his mother died from a drug overdose last year at 64 years old. That loss inspired much of the music on his new album.

[00:00] Billy Strings and his career

[03:00] His new album, "So Much for Goodbyes," and his mom’s death

[13:28] The good and bad parts of his childhood

[16:07] Partying with parents and trying drugs

[18:33] Why he didn't develop a drug problem

[22:37] Finding a career in music

[27:07] Marketing his music and interacting with audiences

[29:32] Pre-show anxiety

[31:34] How fatherhood changed his perspective

[36:20] Breaking generational trauma

[37:49] Song: “The Train That Carried My Girl From Town”

[41:32] Trickiest parts of bluegrass playing

[44:37] Learning “Beaumont Rag”

[48:27] Why he takes guitar lessons

[50:22] Song: “Little White Church”

“The Interview” features conversations with the world’s most fascinating people. Each week, co-hosts David Marchese and Lulu Garcia-Navarro talk to compelling, influential figures in culture, politics, business, sports and beyond — illuminating who they are, why they do what they do and how they impact the rest of us.

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