Sam Brigger
👤 SpeakerAppearances Over Time
Podcast Appearances
From WHYY in Philadelphia, this is Fresh Air Weekend.
Today we continue our series highlighting some of our favorite interviews of the year with singer, songwriter, and guitarist Billy Strings.
Strings is one of the rare bluegrass musicians who can fill arenas with tens of thousands of fans.
He's been working to get to where he is for a long time.
Also, we hear an excerpt of Terry's interview with classical cellist and pop star Leve.
That's coming up on Fresh Air Weekend.
This is Fresh Air Weekend.
If you ever find yourself at an arena concert where tens of thousands of fans of all ages are stomping about to the Bill Monroe tune Roanoke or the classic bluegrass song Old Slewfoot, chances are you're at a Billy Strings show.
A singer, songwriter, and guitarist, Billy Strings is one of the younger generation of musicians, carrying the torch for traditional acoustic bluegrass, even while his music incorporates excursions into exploratory improvisational jams and the occasional heavy metal guitar riff.
and he's been celebrated by both audiences and the music industry.
He's won two Grammys, and Highway Prayers, released in 2024, is the first Bluegrass album in over 20 years to reach number one on Billboard's All-Genre Top 100 Album Sales Chart.
That album showcases his songwriting and his terrific band.
Since then, he's released a live album with another ace bluegrass guitarist, Brian Sutton, called Live at the Legion.
The duo performed in a more intimate setting than the arena Strings usually plays in these days, the American Legion post-82 in East Nashville, playing a lot of music associated with Doc Watson.
Let's hear the lead-off track from Live at the Legion, Nashville Blues, originally by the Delmore Brothers.
That's Billy Strings and Brian Sutton on the new album Live at the Legion.
Billy Strings, welcome to Fresh Air.