Billy Strings Celebrates Latest Album at D.C.’s The Anthem
Encompassing the length of Washington historical Wharf on a brisk Saturday evening, a dense line formed outside The Anthem music auditorium. The warm bulbs of the venue’s Marquee illuminated the name “Billy Strings” in bold lettering. Anxious chatter could be heard as the minute hand approached twelve. Starting at 8 p.m., this Nov. 18 performance marked the debut and celebration of Strings’ new collaborative album Me and Dad. The project recounted the various bluegrass artists and songs shared from one generation to the next, from father to son. Strings’ performance was fueled by a powerful memory of song and dance that reconciled his family’s misfortune of substance abuse and poverty with the success of his music. His music conveyed a universal message enjoyed by the various walks of life found in the audience.
Strings was unlike orthodox Bluegrass artists, who typically performed with a stoic face and statue-like figure. He developed an alternative technique through years of playing guitar for a Metal Rock band, a style that included physical rocking, liberal flourishes, and stark facial expressions. The Strings ensemble, consisting of an acoustic guitar, a mandolin, an upright bass, and a banjo, reflected the marriage of different genres in their arrangements. While a piece began with the upbeat rhythm of Bluegrass, Strings’ evolved the song over the course of 10 minutes (sometimes longer) to include layers of distortion, overdrive, and compression resembling the overtures of jam-bands such as The Grateful Dead.
Beth Eames never listened to Billy Strings before Saturday’s Concert, but she said, “There is something in the music anyone can feel, and before I knew it my foot was tapping and my head was bobbing.”
While his talent took Strings across the country and introduced him to other great artists, the subject matter of his songs remained tethered to his life before the fame. “I’ve been focusing so much on the past that sometimes I forget about the future,” Strings mentioned in between songs. Forced to leave his family home at the age of 13, he considered the past a painful space, but at the same time, the strongest connection to his family and home. Me and Dad marked a turning point in Strings’ discography with a focus on recalling the past to invent something new.
With a Grammy under his belt for the Best Bluegrass Album in 2021, the future of Billy Strings’ music appeared bright and promising.
“I just became a fan of Billy, but he already feels like home to me,” said Lauren Factor after the show. Strings will tour the album Me and Dad for the remainder of 2022 and well into 2023, where more newcomers will hopefully join his following.
