Billy Strings sat down to answer questions from fans on Friday during a Reddit “Ask Me Anything” (AMA) session on the r/Music subreddit. The questions covered a wide range of topics, and as per usual, Strings did not shy away from a single inquiry, letting fans in on everything from his wedding and upcoming album with Les Claypool to his hearing issues and missed opportunity to work with Sturgill Simpson.
A couple fans asked about Strings’ relationship with wife Ally Dale, including how they met and what was the setlist at their wedding, photos from which surfaced showing the bluegrass phenom jamming with his heroes Bob Weir, Trey Anastasio, Les Claypool, and more. As for how the couple met, Strings wrote, “she was the bartender at the ore dock in Marquette Michigan .. I went in for a beer and she left the water running and I reached over there bar and turned it off.. when she came back to shut it off she saw I had already done it .. love at first sight.”
As for the setlist at their wedding, which featured Leftover Salmon as the house band, Billy said “lots of songs were sang, by a few different bands” before adding, “but a big one was when bob wier sang when I paint my masterpiece for me and ally and it was the sweetest thing ever. The vibes were out of this world. such a special moment.”
When another fan asked about his own setlists and who writes them, Strings replied, “I write [the] setlist every day and every day it drives me insane.. its such a puzzle..the unplugged thing was just an idea I had like 2 weeks before the show.. I wrote the setlist that morning and we learned the songs at soundcheck. never met Jamie before soundcheck and he didn’t even know what we were gonna play till he got there. I’m always behind and shit..”
One Reddit user was curious about reports that Strings turned down the opportunity to play on Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass to go fishing. Billy set the record straight, explaining, “yeah, its true. I mean we already had the trip planned and I would have had to bail out on my friends. I hated to miss those sessions and I often wondered if sturgill felt slighted in any way because of it .. I sure hope not.. but we kayaked and caught some smallmouth and it was great.”
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Going fishing instead of recording turned out to be a theme as someone else asked for an update about the album Strings and Les Claypool have supposedly been working on. His answer echoed statements made by Claypool in a recent interview with Marc Maron. “we were getting together there for a while working on tunes whenever we weren’t fishing,” Strings said. “we’re trying to make an album about fishing. we got a handful of tunes, just need to find some more time to get together, but the fish are always biting.”
Fans were curious what other artists Strings was eager to work with, to which he responded, “I wanna jam with GIZZ,” inspiring hope for a future collaboration with King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard.
Another question asked at what point Strings knew he could make it as a professional musician, to which he responded, “when I was young I had the dream. I thought id be like Hendrix.. then I grew up and realized that I’m not a pimple on his ass and I’m gonna have to go to school and eventually grow up and get a damn job… but eventually I learned that I may not be a guitar god.. but I could at least be a working musician.. so that’s what I did. played pubs, coffee houses, open mics, whatever I could do wherever I could until I could pay my bills with it.”
And when a fan asked Strings about comments he made during his recent interview with Theo Von about his tinnitus, Strings elaborated, “I have played for like 3 hours a night in loud places for years. it just caught up with me. it sucks.. it never goes away and I have to sleep with noise on so it drowns out the ringing.. it gets worse when I’m on tour and sometimes I feel like I’m stuck.. I have to go perform but I feel like its damaging me. and I’ve tried to listen quieter but its hard to play that way especially in these arenas..”
Check out the full AMA with Billy Strings here. Revisit his previous AMA from 2020 here.
Billy Strings has upcoming spring and summer tour dates around the U.S. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit his website.
Exclusive to the nugs app, official audio from Billy Strings’ recently wrapped 2024 winter tour is now up for streaming and order. Stretching from Asheville to Atlanta, the tour featureds a highlight three-night run in Nashville run with a plethora of special guests, including Bela Fleck, Sam Bush, Molly Tuttle, Bryan Sutton, 12-year-old viral sensation Myles Gee, and more. For a limited time, subscribers can also still watch all eight shows. Learn more and subscribe to access all the Billy Strings winter tour 2024 content on nugs here.
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