GRAMMY Award-winning singer, songwriter and musician Billy Strings is the winner of Best New Headliner/Artist Development Story at the 33rd Annual Pollstar Awards. The all-genre award is Strings’ second Pollstar nod following last year’s win for Breakthrough Artist of the Pandemic.
The recognition 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 is currently in the midst of a massive headline tour. Upcoming stops include Knoxville’s Civic Auditorium (two nights, both sold out), Madison’s The Sylvee (three nights, all sold out), Santa Barbara’s Santa Barbara Bowl (two nights), Austin’s Moody Amphitheater (sold out), Nashville’s historic Ryman Auditorium (three nights, all sold out) and Morrison’s Red Rock Amphitheatre (two nights, both sold out) among many others. See below for complete tour itinerary. Ticket details can be found at www.billystrings.com/tour.
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 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.
RENEWAL TRACK LIST
1. Know It All
2. Secrets
3. Love and Regret
4. Heartbeat of America
5. In The Morning Light
6. This Old World
7. Show Me The Door
8. Hellbender
9. Red Daisy
10. The Fire On My Tongue
11. Nothing’s Working
12. Hide and Seek
13. Ice Bridges
14. Fire Line
15. Running The Route
16. Leaders
BILLY STRINGS CONFIRMED TOUR DATES
February 11—Greensboro, NC—Greensboro Coliseum
February 12—Norfolk, VA—Chartway Arena
February 15—Augusta, GA—Bell Auditorium
February 16—Augusta, GA—Bell Auditorium
February 18—Knoxville, TN—Civic Auditorium (SOLD OUT)
February 19—Knoxville, TN—Civic Auditorium (SOLD OUT)
February 26—Tempe, AZ—Innings Festival
March 3—Madison, WI—The Sylvee (SOLD OUT)
March 4—Madison, WI—The Sylvee (SOLD OUT)
March 5—Madison, WI—The Sylvee (SOLD OUT)
March 9—Cleveland, OH—KeyBank State Theatre (SOLD OUT)
March 11—Cincinnati, OH—Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center (SOLD OUT)
March 12—Cincinnati, OH—Andrew J Brady ICON Music Center (SOLD OUT)
March 26—London, UK—Islington Assembly Hall (SOLD OUT)
March 27—London, UK—Islington Assembly Hall (SOLD OUT)
April 1—Olympic Valley, CA—WinterWonderGrass Tahoe (SOLD OUT)
April 9—Santa Barbara, CA—Santa Barbara Bowl
April 10—Santa Barbara, CA—Santa Barbara Bowl
April 13—Santa Ana, CA—Observatory (SOLD OUT)
April 15—Las Vegas, NV—Brooklyn Bowl (SOLD OUT)
April 16—San Diego, CA—Cal Coast Credit Union Open Air Theatre
April 21—Houston, TX—713 Music Hall
April 22—Austin, TX—Moody Amphitheater (SOLD OUT)
April 23—Dallas, TX—The Pavilion at Toyota Music Factory
April 29—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre
April 30—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre (SOLD OUT)
May 1—St. Augustine, FL—St. Augustine Amphitheatre
May 5—New Orleans, LA—New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
May 6—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium (SOLD OUT)
May 7—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium (SOLD OUT)
May 8—Nashville, TN—Ryman Auditorium (SOLD OUT)
May 12—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre (SOLD OUT)
May 13—Morrison, CO—Red Rocks Amphitheatre (SOLD OUT)
May 14—Denver, CO—Mission Ballroom
June 18—Manchester, TN—Bonnaroo
August 4—Saint Charles, IA—Hinterland Music Festival
August 26-28—Tisbury, MA—Beach Road Weekend
