William Apostol – born on October 3, 1992, in Lansing, Michigan – is a bluegrass and Americana musician better known by his stage name Billy Strings. He’s a multi-instrumentalist who plays traditional bluegrass instruments such as guitar, banjo, and mandolin. During his early years while growing up in both Morehead, Kentucky and Muir, Michigan, his stepfather introduced him to classic bluegrass music by artists such as Ralph Stanley, Bill Monroe, Earl Scruggs, David Grisman, Doc Watson and any others. In his teens, he discovered rock artists such as Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Black Sabbath, and others. After years of practice, he began collaborating with mandolin player Don Julin in 2012. The duo released a pair of albums – Rock of Ages (2013) and Fiddle Tune X (2014) – before Billy Strings went solo and released the album Turmoil and Tinfoil (2017) to great acclaim. Awards, honors, and accolades came pouring in from Rolling Stone magazine, the International Bluegrass Music Association, Bluegrass Situation, Acoustic Guitar Magazine, and more. Billy Strings toured frequently, sharing stages with Dierks Bentley, Widespread Panic, the Infamous Stringdusters, the String Cheese Incident, and many others. Signing to Rounder Records, he released the album Home (2019), which hit number 1 on Billboard’s Bluegrass chart as well as the top of the Heatseekers chart. He followed that album with 2021’s Renewal, reaching number 1 on the Bluegrass chart as well as reaching the Top 10 on the Country chart and Top 100 on the Billboard 200 Albums chart. In 2022, he collaborated with his stepfather Terry Barber – a bluegrass musician – on the Me/And/Dad EP. A popular live performer throughout his career, he released Billy Strings Live, Vol. 1, his first live album, in 2024, followed the same year by the studio LP Highway Prayers.
