Transcript

Bluegrass star Billy Strings | Fresh Air

From Fresh Air · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 36 min · 5,776 words · 65 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "Bluegrass star Billy Strings | Fresh Air", an episode of Fresh Air published September 12, 2025 (36 min, about 5,776 words). It mentions 6 people, works and ideas, including Doc Watson, Highway Prayers, Brian Sutton, Fresh Air, Sonic Journals.

What this episode is about

Billy Strings, an influential acoustic bluegrass artist, is recognized for blending traditional bluegrass with elements of improvisational jams and heavy metal, captivating audiences with his vibrant live performances. His recent accomplishments include winning two Grammys and releasing "Highway Prayers," which became the first bluegrass album in over 20 years to top the Billboard all-genre album sales chart, along with a live collaboration album, "Live at the Legion," showcasing his skills alongside guitarist Brian Sutton.

Key takeaways

  • Billy Strings blends bluegrass with heavy metal, proving rebellion can still twang.
  • Highway Prayers topped Billboard, shattering two decades of bluegrass absence on the all-genre chart.
  • Live at the Legion showcases intimacy—where beer bottles crash, and guitar duos harmonize beautifully.
  • Doc Watson's legacy: A father figure so influential, Billy learned to play before he tied his shoes.
  • Strings embodies storytelling in music; if you mute Dolly, she still narrates—a skill he’s honing too.

Who speaks in this episode?

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 5:00: Doc Watson, Brian Sutton, Highway Prayers, Fresh Air
  2. – 10:00: Doc Watson, Sonic Journals
  3. – 15:00: Highway Prayers, Doc Watson, Aaron Allen
  4. – 20:00: Highway Prayers, Brian Sutton, Fresh Air
  5. – 25:00: Doc Watson, Highway Prayers
  6. – 30:00: Doc Watson
  7. – 35:00: Doc Watson
  8. – 35:54: Fresh Air

Notable quotes from "Bluegrass star Billy Strings | Fresh Air"

  • That's Billy Strings and Brian Sutton on the new album Live at the Legion. Billy Strings, welcome to Fresh Air.
    about Fresh Air · at
  • A bunch of music that we love and we got a good recording of it and Brian Sutton is he's been one of my good friends for quite a few years now and mentors and heroes and he is one of the greatest guitar players ever.
    about Brian Sutton · at
  • Yeah, he's he's like the ground upon which I stand. I my dad played his music all around the house growing up and by the time I could play guitar, five, six years old, I was.
    about Doc Watson · at
  • So, Billy, last year you came out with your album Highway Prayers. I wanted to play the second song from the album In the Clear. This song is in the long tradition of happy sounding uptempo.
    about Highway Prayers · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Doc Watson — Person · Referenced influence / legacy artist · 10 mentions · first at
    Cited as Billy Strings’ foundational influence; the duo setlist/approach draws heavily from Watson’s repertoire and guitar-duo tradition (Doc & Merle).
  • Brian Sutton — Person · Collaborator (featured musician) · 4 mentions · first at
    Co-performer with Billy Strings on the duo live album; described as a mentor/hero and a top Nashville bluegrass session guitarist.
  • Aaron Allen — Person · Referenced collaborator (songwriting) · 1 mention · first at
    Mentioned as a frequent co-writer with Billy Strings, specifically on the song 'In the Clear' from Highway Prayers.
    Yeah, I don't know. I think this one was one that I wrote with my buddy Aaron Allen. he's a frequent collaborator. me and him and John Weiseberger get together a lot.

Books & papers

  • Highway Prayers — Book · 5 mentions · first at
  • Sonic Journals — Book · 1 mention · first at
    Religion in my house, you know? his music is just it's the best. that's what I was listening to on the way over here, the Sonic Journals, the Alley thing that he recorded. it's just these beautiful recordings and.

Media & podcasts

Full transcript with timestamps

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 Rowan Oak or the classic bluegrass song Old Sloohoot, 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 leadoff track from Live at the Legion, Nashville Blues, originally by the Delmore Brothers.

I've got the blues. Those Nashville blues. I've got the blues. Those Nashville blues. Ain't got no hat. Ain't got no shoes. These people here, they treat me fine. And these people here, they treat me fine. Well, they feed me beer and they feed me wine. And I've got the blues. Those Nashville blues. I've got the blues. Those Nashville blues. I ain't got no hat. Ain't got no shoes.

That's Billy Strings and Brian Sutton on the new album Live at the Legion. Uh Billy Strings, welcome to Fresh Air.

Hey, thank you so much. Good to be here. So, how did the idea for this show and album come about?

Um well, we did a live record. I don't know how long ago it was now, but we did one of our shows, you know, of our um big jam grass stuff in the arenas, and it's just a different um kind of energy. big psychedelic jams and big screaming audiences. And a lot of my favorite live recordings are tiny little small crowds where you can you can hear somebody knock over a beer bottle or you know you can hear the crowd what they're saying and like uh towns Vanzant live at the old quarter is a big one for me. So yeah, we just kind of pulled up into the Legion Hall and they were really cool to let us do that and uh we had a small crowd there and we played um a bunch of music that we love and and we got a good recording of it and and Brian Sutton is he's been one of my good friends for quite a few years now and um mentors and heroes and he is one of the greatest guitar players ever.

Yeah, he's uh he's like a generation older than you. Um but he's I think he's perhaps like the go-to bluegrass session guitar player in um in Nashville these days. And um so there's a long tradition of bluegrass guitar duos. There's of course Doc Watson and his son Merl. There's Norman Blake and Tony Rice. Tony Rice and his brother Wyatt. It seems like kind of like a no-brainer, just two people playing guitar together, but it's actually like a little tricky. um your instruments are right in the same range. Obviously, you're playing a lot of open strings, there's a lot of fast notes, it can it can get a little muddy like what do you do so you're making sure you're not stepping on the other person?

Uh you just try to listen, you know, if he's down low, I'll go high or you know, there's things like that you can do. A lot of a lot of these tunes, too. Um a beautiful thing about Doc and Merl and T. Michael Coleman with those three instruments, they could make a big fat chord, you know? Um, like when they ended a song and they played a chord, it was just this huge chord because it's almost like hitting a piano in in a couple different spots. You get these guitars to open up and sound big.

A lot of this material comes from Doc Watson. Like some of these songs are songs that are part of his repertoire. And you said that most everything you do comes from Doc Watson. Can you talk about his influence on you?

Yeah, he's he's like the ground upon which I stand. You know, I my dad played his music all around the house growing up and by the time I could play guitar, you know, five, six years old, I was learning those tunes, too. I might have been able to play some of them before I knew how to tie my shoes or something, you know. It was like I was learning how to speak and talk and walk and I was learning all these Doc Watson tunes at the same time and it was just like a religion in my house, you know? Uh his music is just it's the best. I mean, that's what I was listening to on the way over here, the the Sonic Journals, the the the Alley thing that he recorded. Um it's just these beautiful recordings and gosh, it was so good. Everything they were playing was just churning.

I can hear some of his guitar playing in your playing. But what about his singing? Was that also influential? Like he didn't have a big range, but he was expressive and he is singing. I always think of it as very crisp.

I mean, I think his range was really kind of something to behold when you think about it. He had this great low baritone and he could also yodel and get up into that really high falsetto and you know, but but with Doc, it was always just spoken. It was always the information of the song came through and the conversation of it. You know, people like him, people like Willie Nelson, people like Dolly Parton, um these really great storytellers when they're singing, you know, if you if you see Dolly Parton on TV singing and you press mute, it just looks like she's talking to you because she is. She's telling the story.

You know, that's that's one big thing that um one of my vocal coaches that I've been working with. One of the big things that I took from some of those lessons was just give me the information. You know, I get on stage and I sing and I'm so worried about the pitch. Is it am I singing good? Is the tone good? Am I singing right? How's my timing? This and that. It's like taking the kids to the park and you're scared to let them go down the slide because you don't want them to get hurt.

It's like, geez, let them play, you know? And so if you focus on the story and telling the words and you know it's just like I know where the pitch is, I just need to tell the story.

So you're doing that more trying to it's easier said than done all this stuff, you know, all the music kind of zen kind of mindful stuff that I've been getting into. It's kind of the inner game uh inner game stuff, you know. I mean I'm high strong. I'm I got a lot of anxiety and stress and um I'm moving around a lot. I've been really busy the last several years and I got a lot of my own personal stuff that just haunts me on a daily basis and I try to I try to do everything I can to just be cool and get my nervous system to chill, but it just seems like I I don't know what I can do to to calm it. you know, I do the best I can and I'm doing okay, but it's it's a daily kind of struggle to to just stay on the ground.

Does playing guitar help or is playing guitar all caught up in all of that stuff? Because that's what you do for a living.

It depends on what kind of playing guitar, you know, if I'm on stage, that's where the joy is, you know, that's where the where the fun is. If I'm I kind of ride myself pretty hard about practice offstage. Well, let's talk about that. You know, I I noticed on social media like a year ago or so, you were you were popping up uh endorsing this online guitar program and talking about how you felt like you'd reached a plateau and you wanted to get better and get out of that. So, what was going on? The more I play shows, the more shows I play in a row, the more you can drive yourself back into these old default kind of almost like a rut of playing licks you always play or playing, you know, you almost get sick of hearing yourself play the same thing and you're just going, "Oh, this is, you know, I'm not impressed. I'm not impressed with myself."

You know, I think it's I don't know. There's something really honest about you talking about that because here you are, you're playing for tens of thousands of people. Like you're an incredible guitar player and yet you still want to improve and you care about your craft and you know you're willing to talk about like I imagine there's people who are famous guitar players too who take lessons but they probably wouldn't talk about it.

I don't know. I mean, what do you want me to say? I've kind of I've kind of always thought I sort of sucked, you know, cuz I'm me. I'm going to be my own worst critic always. But I'm just um yeah, of course I'm going to talk about it. I mean, it's kind of interesting. It's like I never really took lessons. I just learned how to play from hanging out with my dad and listening to the him play with my old Brad LCO, my uncle Brad and and I kind of just was seeped in this Monroe and Stanley brothers and Flatten Scrugs and Larry Sparks and Jimmy Martin and Osborne Brothers and and you know, of course, mainly Doc Watson and I was kind of just soaked in that and marinated in that since I was a little kid.

And that's how I just heard everything. It's kind of how I hear music. But I never I never took any lesson. I still don't know what a harmonic minor is. I don't know what the word like dietonic means. I don't, you know, I have no freaking idea. I have a very limited understanding of these music words that people use. So then I get into these sessions, right? Cuz I'm Bayof Fleck says, "Hey, come play on my record." And I'm sitting in a room with Ba Fleck and Edgar Meyer and Chris Thealy and they're saying, "Oh yeah, it's just, you know, this is in they're counting with all these numbers and letters and hieroglyphs and all sorts of stuff." And I'm just like, man, I don't even know what any of this means. I just know the song goes.

That's how the song goes to me. I couldn't tell you it in a math equation. So, Billy, last year you came out with your album Highway Prayers. I wanted to play the second song from the album In the Clear. This song is in the long tradition of happy sounding uptempo bluegrass songs with really depressing lyrics. Uh, can you talk about writing it?

Yeah, I mean, I don't know. I think this one was one that I wrote with my buddy Aaron Allen. Um, he's a frequent collaborator. me and him and John Weiseberger get together a lot of times and we've written quite a few songs together now. But uh as soon as I started reading some of the words, I knew I could hear it in my head that it happens like that a lot of times. You know, if even if I write something down, I'm thinking of the music as I'm writing it, you know, and it's it's like I write with the melody, you know?

This is the second song from the album In the Clear. So, why don't we hear this? Well, here I am, pulled over now, just crying on the shoulder down the road that I've been driving on for days. So, I ain't my moral compass, but it's spinning like a wheel. You could take that many different ways. I've had days as black as night time and nights that lasted years. I spent a thousand hours on my knees. Broke down and started praying. But I was bleeding with the wind just to never feel a difference in the breeze. They say heaven knows the road is slow.

How the hell would heaven know? Just where am I supposed to go from here? How much longer now before I'm in the clear? That's the song in the clear from uh our guest Billy Strings 2024 album Highway Prayers. And this is with the band that you've been with for a while now. It's uh Billy Failing on banjo, Jared Walker on mandolin, Royal Msat on bass, and a newer member Alex Hargraves on fiddle. Well, Billy, some of your songs deal with some pretty heavy subjects that you've dealt with in your life, including, you know, losing friends to suicide, um, family and and and friends who are dealing with addiction, you know, feeling neglect when you were a kid.

When you write songs about that stuff, um, is it helping you process those experiences? Is it easy to sing about that stuff once you've written the songs?

Sometimes it's hard. Sometimes it is definitely uh that's how I felt when I sang on stage the the night my mom died. It was cathartic. It's cathartic. Um, I've had songs that I've written, you know, about something totally different, um, that I didn't realize I wrote for myself until months later. I didn't I I write these words thinking that I'm giving the some information to the some people that might could hear it. Really, I'm the one that needs to hear it. And I wrote that for myself so that I could heal. And now I go sing it on stage and and there's also been songs uh Stratosphere Blues and I Believe in You.

You know, the other night I was singing that on stage and um you know, like I said, I wrote that before my mom had died and now singing it after is just different. It's like I I knew something or something, you know.

I'm sorry about your mom passing away. She died this last June. Would you mind singing a verse of that?

Uh, I could try. Let's see. Couldn't help but wonder why you threw yourself away. Come on out from under and just take it day by day. It's true. I believe in you. Took a walk to wonder and I wondered on a thought. It's kind of hard to get through all the things we ain't been taught. It's true. But I believe in you after all the years of medication. Feels good to get your life on track. Long as you live, I'm sorry to tell you, you never get that monkey off your back. Yeah, something like that. Anyways, you know.

Yeah, that's a beautiful song. Thank you for playing that. No problem, man. If you're just joining us, our guest today is Billy Strings. His two most recent albums are Live at the Legion with guitar player Brian Sutton and from 2024 Highway Prayers. I'm Sam Briger and this is Fresh Air. Well, Billy, when your mom died this last June, I think you heard in the morning and you had a gig that night. You decided to play it. You got on stage and you made a, you know, obviously emotional announcement about it and you said that that your mom would have wanted you to go on. She wouldn't have wanted you to cancel the show. Why? Why is that?

The only reason she died is so she could, you know, space travel and be there. She was at all the shows, you know. She was always in the mix right up front. She'd show up in New Orleans or Seattle or somewhere and I wouldn't even know she was coming. She freaking hitchhiked there, you know. I was like, "What? She walks in my green room. What the hell? You didn't even tell me you were coming." You know, she was just a wild one. And she was really living her best life in this last little bit. she had become quite involved with a lot of my friends and fans, you know, that go to every show and and and go out and in the lot and stuff and she became really close to a lot of these people and I was um always had mixed feelings about that. Um

what do you mean? Well, I wanted her to go have fun and and be doing, you know, whatever she wanted to be doing, but um I worried about her running into the wrong people or, you know, she's been an addict my whole life and um had short stints where she was doing pretty good, you know, and I love to see her out there hanging with all the fans, but at the same time, I was leerary of them, you know. I would go over to visit my parents house and there would be like the fans there that I see in the front row of my concerts all the time.

People you you knew or did it or just knew as fans? Mostly I just recognize them from the crowd, you know, and then I get to know them because they're hanging out with my parents or something. But, you know, and who what am I supposed to say like don't do that? I don't know. They're grown people. But I don't know. She was getting older and I kind of just had this vision of her in my head that I wanted which is stupid. It's not realistic to try to come up with somebody else's life in your brain, but like I just wanted her to have a garden.

And my dad 70 years old, she was 64. I was like, "Man, you guys should like be settling down, you know, don't you think? Instead of raring and tearing and going and eating all these shrooms and going to all these concerts and then she did get wrapped up in the wrong stuff and that's why she's not here anymore."

I'm sorry, this might be too personal, but are did she overdose? Was that Yeah. I'm sorry.

Yeah. And it's, you know, it's um it's it's messed with me my whole life and now it's going to mess with me for the rest of it. You know, I have complex posttraumatic stress and I have anxiety and depression and I have for for years tried to deal with this stuff just that happened to me when I was a kid. you know, it wasn't just being neglected and there not being food in the house and you know, uh, my parents being strung out and I miss them even though they're sitting right in front of me is like while they were partying and, you know, stuff like that. I was around the corner being molested, you know, before I was 10 years old and all that stuff, you know, and I've had to deal with that, you know, and it's it's a really hard thing because they're such beautiful people and they taught me so much about music, but yeah, their addiction has been really hard on me for my whole life and and it still is. And um really

triggering to lose her in this manner, you know. Well, I'm sorry. I I hope talking about it is not triggering any hard feelings for you right now.

I got to talk about it because it's like my whole life I've had to keep a secret in order to try to not make them look bad, you know? Like even when I was in high school, I I spoke to a counselor one time. I mean, I was I was in 10th grade, but I was couch surfing. I didn't live with them, you know. I moved out when I was like 13 because the house was no longer a home. They were strung out. And it's a wonder I was even going to school. And one time I got pulled into a counselor instead of the principal's office, you know, and and they said, "What's going on?" You know, and I finally just they they told me anything I say is between them and and it won't leave the room. And I said, "Yeah, my parents are on meth and I don't even live there." And my house got raided right after that. You know, that same day, five state cops came up, raided the house. I almost sent my mom to prison because I opened my mouth. And from then

on, I never said to anybody about anything. I've just, it hurts me. But what hurts me is I've always just been worried about them, you know, and I've always wanted them to be good. And when I say be good, I mean to be well and happy and and have some sunshine in their life, you know. A few years ago, I was able to buy them a home, my parents. And um stuff was good for a while, but you know, it it just yeah, it really breaks my heart that that it went back to this and and now she's gone. And um so I think my duty here is to continue doing what I'm doing for one thing. Uh use all that beautiful energy that I get from her, that crazy wild streak. I got to use that and and and you know, honor her in that way. And I feel a great kind of duty as far as just writing down these words, making these songs for people to heal from. And also, you know, who knows, maybe someday I'll actually be able to help kids that are in the

situation that I was in. Maybe I'll be able to help their parents, you know, like open a rehab or something or something like that to just to help combat this because it's it's really hard, you know. Um

Yeah. Are you taking some time for yourself right now? Like are you are you able to take some time off the road? And you have a young family now that's also that's at home.

Yeah, they're with me on the road. Oh, they're they go with you on the road. Heck yeah, man. So So yeah, I got the whole the whole gang and and we're out there traveling and it's it's really cool. Um it's awesome. And so, yeah, I've just been leaning into that, leaning on my my family, you know, my band.

Let's hear one of your songs from Highway Prayers, which is um all about being on the road, leaning on a traveling song. And this uh starts out with some great bluegrass harmonies and also some really terrific fiddles playing together. So, let's hear that. Where the air is clear and the road is straight. All the choicees have been made. I'll keep rolling right along. Leaning on a traveling song.

Earlier we talked about uh Doc Watson and I I wanted to ask if you'd play a tune that maybe was one of the earlier songs that you learned as a kid?

Yeah. Um, when I was a kid, I mostly just played rhythm. So, I'll give an example of that. My dad, he would play this You know

that's the fiddle tune Bont rag for Yeah. And and so I would play, you know, and so that's how I started and that's kind of what I did for the first few years of playing. I was my dad's rhythm player and that gave me a chance to just listen to how the songs worked to just kind of stay there in the bass kind of notes and um and listen to the melodies and listen to the the harmonies how how the vocals work together and uh that kind of bluegrass harmony just seeped into my ears I guess. And um later on I I got a electric guitar little mini squire Strat and a Pignos amp for Christmas one year.

I think I was probably nine or 10 or so. And that was my first time really trying to play solos and stuff like that. But it was more I was getting into Hendricks and I was playing more, you know, guitar center stuff. When I got into middle school, I wanted to play with people that were my age. You know, I I'd always played with my dad and his friends, and some of them were much older, and I just wanted to play music with people that were into the same stuff as I was, like skateboarding and video games, whatever, you know? And so, the only thing that was really going on in my middle school at the time was heavy metal. And I went to a couple shows and I just I hated it at first. I was like, "This is not music, you know?

I don't know what this is, but it ain't music." But I I just end I fell into that friend group and then next thing you know I started I acquired a taste for this music and then I fell in love with it. But after my bands kept breaking up and falling apart, I kind of got back into Doc Watson at this time and just bluegrass in general. This would have been around the time that stuff was really rough around the house. I remember specifically stealing my mom's old Chevel one day.

How how old were you? 14, 15, you know, because I'd go over to my parents house and hang out with them and stay there and party. And it's not like I just totally left and and disowned them. I just once I realized stuff wasn't going to change. I mean, I didn't end up really moving back there, but I'd go there for for a weekend and hung out there a bunch, but I didn't wasn't like my home.

Mhm. And so, yeah, I stole my mom's car one day when I was just sitting around getting drunk by myself. And that's how bored I was. And that's how kind of there was nothing to do in this town. I mean, it was there's 600 people that live here. There's nothing to do. So, I was just getting drunk during the day and I stole mom's car and I went down Hayes Road, uh, this old country road with corn fields on either side. And man, I put the pedal to the floor and I just I was going and that corn was just a blur on either side. And there was a tape sticking halfway out of the deck and I pushed it in. I'm like, I wonder what my mom's listening to. Right. And then uh this is what came on. I was in those heavy metal bands and all this stuff and I hadn't really been listening to bluegrass very much, but I was kind of heartbroken at the way my life was at the time. And when I heard

I wandered again to my home in the mountains, you know, rank stranger came on. That's what my mom had in her tape deck. And I just started slowing that old car down and until I came to a complete stop and I just pulled over on the side of the road and I started crying and I was drunk, you know, but this song hit me right in my heart. In that moment, I was like, what am I even doing in these heavy metal bands? Bluegrass is where my heart is. It's this is the music I should be playing. And at that time, I just I started hunting for an acoustic guitar, you know, and my friend Zach had one. And one of the first tunes I learned how to actually pick how to play the lead on and stuff. It was to thing called nothing to it. It goes like this.

Is that one of those licks that you're now tired of or you still like it? No, I I love it. I mean,

yeah, it's it's still the best. I mean, any any of that Doc Watson stuff. You decided at some point that like playing guitar was your way out was kind of like your salvation and a way to get out of the kind of life that your mom and dad were leading.

At what point though did you sort of realize like this could I could make a living doing this. I could really get somewhere.

That wasn't until I was about 18 years old or so. Um I failed all through school. The only I I graduated from an alternative ed. The only reason I graduated is cuz I was selling mushrooms. And I was able to pay this kid five bucks per assignment, 25 bucks a week to help me get the answers to algebra so that I could graduate. So I graduated a year late from alternative ed thing, but you know, I had dropped out several times in those years. They filed truency on me, all this stuff. I was a complete I stopped paying attention in sixth grade, you know what I mean? By the time I tried to apply myself, they were talking about trigonometry. I was way late.

Well, but so you must have at some point like decided to take this leap of faith. I mean, and and just try to make it.

Well, when I graduated high school, I was kind of in this situation where it was like, okay, I need to get out of Ionia because nothing's happening here and I'm just going to end up going down a bad road if I stay here. I'm going to end up ODed or in prison or, you know, it's just it did not look good. The way I felt is in Ionia it was it was black and white gray and and I moved up to Traverse City, Michigan. A friend of mine, Brendan Lowour, bless his beautiful little heart, he had a room and he said, "Hey man, you you want to come stay up in Traverse City? We need a roommate." Hell yeah. So I went up to Traverse City, man, and all of a sudden it was like Technicolor. There was like beaches and there was like micro breweries and art galleries and people like singer songwriters and there was like coffee shops and people were into like art and stuff and so I started doing a couple open mic nights up there

just messing around cuz this is when I was studying Doc Watson kind of heavy again. I had I got acoustic guitar and I was just sitting at home posting myself with no shirt on freaking YouTube or whatever, you know, um trying to show off my new tattoo. But I went and did some open mic nights up there and um man, I played Black Mountain Rag or something and I got a standing ovation and I go, "Whoa, holy crap." It's like these folks either love Doc Watson or they've never heard anything like this before.

Yeah. Your dad taught you how to play guitar. Have you picked out a guitar for your son yet? Do you plan to teach him the way your dad taught you?

Well, he's already got one that he just bangs on the floor. I gave him this Martin Dreadnot Jr. used to be my guitar. I just practice on the bus and stuff and I took tape and I covered up all the pokey parts on where the strings are on top and I wrapped them real good so he can't poke himself on that. Yeah.

So, when are you going to start teaching him the how to play the strings? Oh man, like I said, he's

he's already gone. He's 10 months and uh he's he's just banging on it. Um but I sing for him all the time. It's always the best. I remember that first night when we got home, the night of my 32nd birthday, the first time I was able to be at home with my son and um I held him and I sang this little song. I'll sing a bit of it for you. He went to sleep in my arms when I was singing this to him and it's probably the best moment of my entire life besides maybe just the moment he was born. But there's this little lullabi Sleep Pretty baby sleeping.

Close them pretty bright. Listen while your daddy sings sweet to you, you know. And uh I sang that to him and he fell asleep. That was like the best.

Well, Billy Strings, I want to thank you so much for coming on Fresh Air today.

I thank you for having me.

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "Bluegrass star Billy Strings | Fresh Air"?

Billy Strings (Guest), Sam Briger (Host).

What is "Bluegrass star Billy Strings | Fresh Air" about?

Billy Strings, an influential acoustic bluegrass artist, is recognized for blending traditional bluegrass with elements of improvisational jams and heavy metal, captivating audiences with his vibrant live performances. His recent accomplishments include winning two Grammys and releasing "Highway Prayers," which became the first bluegrass album in over 20 years to top the Billboard all-genre…

What is mentioned in this Fresh Air episode?

6 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Doc Watson, Highway Prayers, Brian Sutton, Fresh Air, Sonic Journals, Aaron Allen. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "Bluegrass star Billy Strings | Fresh Air"?

The episode runs 36 min; the transcript is about 5,776 words in 65 timestamped sections.

More from Fresh Air

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.