Terry Barber with William Apostol/Billy Strings.

Billy Strings was born William Apostol on October 3, 1992 in Lansing, Michigan. His stepfather, Terry Barber, was a picker in the Michigan bluegrass scene, although he never played professionally. Barber was a heavy influence on his son, introducing him to traditional bluegrass at a young age.

Bill's stepfather introduced him to the music of Doc Watson, Del McCoury, David Grisman, Bill Monroe, John Hartford, Ralph Stanley, Earl Scruggs, and Larry Sparks. He was also a rock and metal fan, influenced by Jimi Hendrix, Johnny Winter, and Black Sabbath, and played in hard rock and indie rock bands in his teens. Apostol got his moniker, Billy Strings, from his aunt, who saw his ability on multiple traditional bluegrass instruments.[

In 2012, Don Julin, a mandolin player from Traverse City, MI, and author of the "Dummies Guide to Mandolin," asked him to join him on a paying gig. The partnership lasted for the next 4 years.

Rolling Stone named Strings one of the Top Ten New Country Artists to Know in 2017. On February 12, 2018, Rolling Stone published an article entitled "Bluegrass Prodigy Billy Strings Plots 2018 Spring Tour," saying, "Billy Strings doesn't have any trouble living up to his name. [He is] one of the latest breakneck guitar pickers to emerge in the bluegrass world."


Strings in 2017
The International Bluegrass Music Association awarded him with the 2016 Momentum Award for Instrumentalist of the year Bluegrass Situation named him a scene tastemaker in 2016. Lisa Snedeker of HuffPost proclaimed Turmoil and Tinfoil as one the best albums of 2017, writing, "in September it charted at No. 3 on the Billboard Bluegrass charts. ‘Nuff said.".
In March, 2018, Rolling Stone released Strings' debut music video Dealing Despair from his album Turmoil & Tinfoil.
In February 2017, Billy was named one of the six new rising stars of bluegrass by Acoustic Guitar
In March 2018, PBS announced that Billy was to be the inaugural performer at the new cave for the renowned series Bluegrass Underground in the caverns of Pelham, Tennessee. In January 2019, Rolling Stone wrote an article entitled "Why Guitarist Billy Strings Is the Bluegrass Star You Don't Want to Miss."
His touring band consists of Billy Failing (Banjo), Royal Masat (Bass), and Jarrod Walker (Mandolin).

In January 2019, Rolling Stone wrote an article entitled "Why Guitarist Billy Strings Is the Bluegrass Star You Don't Want to Miss." He was signed to Rounder Records in June 2019. Strings released his album, Home, (Produced & Engineered by: Glenn Brown) under the label on September 27, 2019.[27] It became his most successful release yet, reaching number one on the Heatseekers Albums and Bluegrass Albums charts. He also debuted at No. 11 on the Emerging Artists Chart.[28] On September 26, 2019 Billy Strings was voted the International Bluegrass Music Association Guitar Player of the Year in Raleigh, North Carolina.

His album Home won the Grammy for Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards.

His touring band consists of Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), and Jarrod Walker (mandolin).

In 2021 he joined Bill Kruetzmann's Billy & the Kids for a number of shows, along with James Casey (saxophone).

On July 30, 2021, he announced his upcoming fifth album, entitled "Renewal", to be released on September 24, 2021.

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