Review Summary: Billy Strings at his most vulnerable
At the beating heart of bluegrass lies the humble jam circle. Practically anywhere across the United States it’s a safe bet that if you live near more than a few thousand people, there’s at least a handful of them who’ll be congregating weekly in a watering hole or basement to pick and pluck a few hours away. Improvisation within the bones of standard tunes is the name of the game. Players will trade solo for solo, stretching and reviving the skeletons of hundred-year-old songs into sprawling creations. It’s American folk music in an inimitably authentic fashion, and on a personal note, the way that I really got into bluegrass and country.
This improvisational nature makes it only natural that a virtuoso like William Apostol, known by his stage name Billy Strings, would come along and take a bluegrass blender to a wide array of American musical stylings. On the way, he created arguably the most widely beloved and respected modern jam band and became one of the biggest musicians around today, period. This musical genius is helped by the fact that Strings himself comes across as unflinchingly earnest and down to Earth.
I’ll admit though that his jam band association kept me away from Billy Strings for too long. I’d heard his third Grammy-winning album
Highway Prayers and enjoyed it, but until recently hadn’t felt the drive to dig into his back catalogue. In hindsight that was clearly a mistake as he’s written some exceptional material. I prefer his more traditional bluegrass tunes to his psychedelic outings, but at the end of the day it’s all good stuff.
Highway Prayers in particular saw Billy Strings freewheeling to great effect, creating his most dynamic and engaging album to date.
Billy Strings’ latest offering,
So Much for Goodbyes finds bluegrass’ leading light at a deeply introspective crossroads. Musically the formula remains essentially the same. Billy Strings heads a traditional bluegrass outfit at the end of the day, and while his expert guitarwork is often at the forefront, the rest of the band has ample moments to shine. The mandolin, violin, banjo and even upright bass are all wonderfully in sync with each other, creating lush and tumbling compositions that intertwine and pull ahead in turn.
But the loss of Strings’ mother last year at the age of 64 to an overdose is front and center on this record. It was a heavy and unexpected blow for a musician already accustomed to tribulation. His biological father died from an overdose when Strings was a child (his stepfather taught him how to play guitar), and he began using drugs himself far too young before getting sober in his mid-20s.
The weight of these trials, but especially the loss of Strings' mother, finds its way onto this record. That's especially apparent on the beautifully contemplative “Live to Tell” and “Still I Crash.” The latter is perhaps the most direct on the record and includes lyrics like:
“Mother, where did you go now?
Tell me, I need to know how…
…But as the seasons change
And you're still out of range
I can hear your voice
As it echoes through my head
And all these days pass by
These tears might never dry”
But really the whole record is a restrained and thoroughly thought-out experience. Instead of the driving energy found on
Highway Prayers or the joyous bluegrass celebration on
Turmoil and Tinfoil, most tracks on
So Much for Goodbyes feel graceful and intentional. That deliberateness seems to flow from the subject matter, of course. Even jam tracks like “Bluewater Breakdown” feel more mellow than previous outings. There are still moments of refined energy to be found on this record though. Take “Remember to Cry” and “Lay Me Down” with their more upbeat midtempo bluegrass swagger, or the psychedelic flourishes of the driving “Burn the Other End.” Or the smoldering energy of “Lucid Daydream” that brings to mind the moody stylings of The Devil Makes Three's early work.
On the whole though
So Much for Goodbyes is at first brush less immediate and gripping than its predecessors. But I would recommend giving this album a chance to prove its stripes. The slower songs force the listener into Strings’ own headspace and they’re beautifully composed and recorded showcasing his characteristic mastery of genres ranging from bluegrass and country to blues and jazz. Multiple listens are mandatory, preferably with relatively undivided attention. Maybe with a Sunday evening glass of whiskey instead of a Saturday night beer. It’s a focused album that benefits from listeners treating it correspondingly; from a scratching away of a deceptively sleepy exterior to explore the bleedingly vulnerable album beneath. Give
So Much for Goodbyes the time it needs to shine. I guarantee it’s worth it.
