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GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Billy Strings performed his song “Know It All” on “The Late Show with Stephen Colbert.” Watch/share HERE.
The performance adds to yet another unstoppable year for Strings, who is nominated in two categories at the 64th Annual GRAMMY Awards: Best Bluegrass Album (Renewal) and Best American Roots Performance (“Love and Regret”) and won Best New Headliner/Artist Development Story at the 33rd Annual Pollstar Awards.
Out now via Rounder Records (stream/purchase here), Renewal was produced by Jonathan Wilson and solidifies Strings’ position as a singular artist—one who honors the history of the music that inspires him, while continually pushing it forward. With the record’s sixteen tracks, Strings shares a more personal and honest perspective through his songwriting, while incorporating his wide range of influences with elements of bluegrass, classic rock, metal, psychedelic music and more.
Released to widespread attention, Renewal landed on several “Best of 2021” lists including The Bitter Southerner, No Depression, Glide, The Boot, Folk Alley, Nashville’s WMOT Roots Radio and Pittsburgh’s WYEP Radio. It was also one of the Top 50 Most Played Albums at Americana Radio last year, while Strings was #1 on listener-voted year-end lists at Charlottesville’s WNRN and Spindale-Asheville’s WNCW among others.
In celebration of the record, Strings is currently in the midst of his extensive headline tour. Upcoming stops include Santa Barbara’s Santa Barbara Bowl (two nights), New York’s The Rooftop at Pier 17 (sold out), Dallas’ The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory, Louisville’s Iroquois Amphitheater (three nights), Indianapolis’ TCU Amphitheater at White River State Park (two nights), Portland’s McMenamins Edgefield (two nights) and Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium (three nights, all sold out) among several others. See below for complete itinerary.
In addition to Strings (vocals, guitar, mandolin, piano, synth, guitjo) and Wilson (celesta, percussion, harpsicord), the record features Strings’ band—Billy Failing (banjo, piano, background vocals), Royal Masat (bass, background vocals) and Jarrod Walker (mandolin, guitar, background vocals)—as well as special guest musicians Spencer Cullum (pedal steel), John Mailander (violin) and Grant Millikem (synth).
Renewal adds to a burgeoning career for Strings, who won Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd GRAMMY Awards for his 2019 record, Home. Released to overwhelming acclaim, The Associated Press praised the album, asserting, “it is his creative musical storytelling, paired with solid vocals on Home that should seal the deal, pleasing fans of the genre and creating some new ones…the perfect blend of pure talent and pluck,” while The Wall Street Journal proclaimed, “Billy Strings has clearly emerged as a premier guitar flatpicker of this era” and Rolling Stone declared, “one of string music’s most dynamic young stars.” Strings and the record also topped Billboard’s 2020 year-end chart in both Bluegrass categories: Top Bluegrass Artists and Top Bluegrass Albums.
Raised in Michigan and now based in Nashville, Strings is known as one of music’s most compelling artists. Since his 2017 debut, he has been awarded Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic at the 2021 Pollstar Awards, named Entertainer of the Year and Guitar Player of the Year at the 2021 International Bluegrass Music Awards and has performed on PBS’ “Austin City Limits” and “Bluegrass Underground.” A respected figure across all genres, Strings has also recently collaborated with a wide variety of artists including Bill Kreutzmann, Luke Combs, Del McCoury, Fences, RMR and many more.
