Billy Strings recently sat for an in-depth interview on WTF with Marc Maron, where he shared details on his next album, stories from his childhood, a personally monumental encounter with Eddie Vedder, and much more. The 80-plus-minute conversation covered a lot of ground, so we compiled some key takeaways from Billy’s chat with one of the OG podcasters.
Highway Prayers
The interview which dropped on Thursday is bookended by Billy talking about his forthcoming studio album, set to be titled Highway Prayers. The 31-year-old bluegrass sensation has been working with producer Jon Brion (Aimee Mann, Rufus Wainright), which grabbed Marc’s attention. The comedian and podcast host is an avid music lover and guitar player himself, though at the outset of the interview made it known that—while he appreciates bluegrass and has some Doc Watson and Earl Scruggs records—it is certainly not his scene. Asking Billy if he would call his next album a bluegrass record, the guitarist coyly responded, “I don’t know what to call any of my records honestly, ’cause there’s some bluegrass on ’em and that’s where I cut my teeth and where I started. But when I’m writing I just follow the song.”
Though Billy didn’t offer up a tracklist or release date for Highway Prayers, at the end of the interview he shared a bit about the album’s ethos. After people kept asking him what the next record would be called, Strings looked at the tracklist and took notice of how many songs were about cars and traveling, bringing him to the name Highway Prayers.
“So I’m just thinking about, ‘What does it feel like to be on the highway, and what is music to me on the highway?’ It’s medicine,” Strings reflected, later adding, “I just wanted to make a record that is something somebody can put on when they’ve got an hour drive or more ahead of them. Highway prayers.”
Billy F–ing Loves His Dad
It’s no secret the amount of love Billy has for his dad Terry Barber, a bond best represented on the covers album they recorded together Me / And / Dad. That album fetched a Grammy nomination, giving Billy the chance to bring his dad to the award ceremony and walk the red carpet—which resulted in a hilarious exchange when the salt of the earth Barber was asked “Who are you wearing?” only to respond that his pants are Levi’s and his son bought him the shirt. But it’s one thing to know Billy’s history with his dad, and it’s another to hear it straight from Strings’ mouth.
Billy was born in Lansing, MI where his biological father died of an accidental heroin overdose when Strings was 2. Shortly after that, his mother took up with local bluegrass musician Terry Barber in Muir, MI. Though Terry is not Billy’s birth father, he refers to Barber explicitly as “Dad” without any strings or caveats attached.
“That man taught me how to tie my shoes and wipe my ass and he taught me about Doc Watson and he taught me how to play guitar, how to fish,” Strings gushed. “It’s the most beautiful thing, because he’s not my biological father, scientifically or whatever. But I am so his son. When I view the world, I look through a lens that is from him. He taught me to be the man that I am. That’s my dad.”
The entire exchange is so incredibly heartwarming that you might tear up every few minutes. Billy and Marc both even get a little misty-eyed when Strings emotionally recalls the time he met Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder backstage. Pearl Jam was ever-present in Strings’ home growing up, with the guitarist pegging 1998’s Yield as his favorite PJ album, so when as an adult Strings got to meet Vedder who knew his name and gave him a hug and a birthday present (a Zippo lighter), the full-circle surrealism was an overwhelming experience that sent Billy to his trailer crying because of where his hard work and years of dedication had taken him.
“Because I’ve had the life that I’ve had, and I’ve been able to find a way to make it in music, those moments where I get to meet one of my heroes like that, they mean so much more to me because of all the work that I’ve put in to get here,” Strings reflected. “It’s almost like, I get to a moment like that, where I got to shake Eddie Vedder’s hand and I think about all the sweat, and blood, and tears, and hours of tireless nights on the tour bus that I went through to get me to that spot. And then I think about that little kid that never thought that would ever happen.”
Billy’s Reunion With Terry’s Guitar
Of course, things weren’t always easy for Billy growing up. One of the most powerful moments of the WTF interview was when Strings recounted the story of how he reunited his dad with his long-lost Martin acoustic guitar. During Billy’s teenage years, his mother and father both fell into a methamphetamine addiction that forced Strings to move out at age 13 for his own well-being. In those dark years, Barber sold the vintage Martin acoustic guitar that his father bought for him and that he told Billy would be his one day.
Fast forward several years later, and Strings was looking online for a cheap Martin guitar. Sure enough, he sees one that has the exact same scratches from where his dad’s pinky was and the same crack on the fifth fret. It turns out the guitar had made its way from Michigan up to Massachusetts, and Billy sent the seller a book of a reply on the guitar forum which he wrote as tears fell on the keyboard. Despite Strings’ story, the seller still needed the money and couldn’t wait around a few months for Billy to save up. Then the seller’s wife Marla stepped in, and after sending them $700 a month for the next three months, he received his father’s guitar in the mail.
“[Dad] sits down and slowly undoes each buckle on the case, and he opens it up about an inch and just he sees it, and he puts his head down on the guitar case and starts crying,” Strings recalled. “Eventually pulls it out, strums a chord on it, by that time me and my brother and my mom are standing there, we’re all crying, that the guitar is back home.”
Strings has had his own issues with substance abuse as well. While it’s easy to latch onto those themes for an easy soundbite or clickbait article, Maron—who has had his own struggles but has been sober since 1999—doesn’t dwell on those facets of Billy’s life. He did though ask what made Billy stop drinking, and Billy’s reply was simply “a really bad hangover” that nearly derailed the band’s gig back on June 16th, 2016. As the band rolled in late to its show because they had to keep stopping for Billy to throw up, he had a moment of clarity and asked himself, “Do you want a career or do you want to get hammered? It’s gonna be one or the other for you bud,” and he hasn’t had a drink since.
Bluegrass > Metal > Bluegrass
Throughout the interview, Strings laid out the chronology of his life in music. His dad brought him up playing bluegrass when he was a kid and into his early adolescence, but by the time Strings was a teenager he wanted to play music with kids his age. Not wanting to keep playing picking parties with Gladys at the bingo hall, Billy took up with the local metal scene populated by fellow kids who he could skateboard or play video games with after playing music. Strings’ entrance into the heavy metal scene seemed more like a crime of opportunity, as he stated that it was the only thing going on in his area music-wise. While certainly a fan of heavy music now, Strings confessed that the first time his dad showed him Black Sabbath it “scared the crap out of me.” Eventually, Strings formed early metal bands To Once Darkened Skies and A Day of Moments, which broke up due to the same substance abuse issues that existed around Strings throughout his early life.
Related: Billy Strings Sits In With Michigan Metalcore Band Flesh And Blood Robot [Photos/Videos]
Following the dissolution of Billy’s heavy metal bands, the guitarist once again found himself drawn back to bluegrass. After watching videos of Doc Watson perform, Strings went back to his dad to have a bluegrass jam on “Salt Creek” by Doc. At this point, Strings was already well-steeped in the blues-rock soloing style of guitarists like Jimi Hendrix but had yet to crack the code of how to solo over bluegrass, and then it hit him.
“It was the start. I learned how to do ‘Salt Creek’ and then I took my guitar back and I knew what to do with the approach,” Strings recalled of his ah-ha moment. “It’s not just soloing over the chords, I have to learn note-for-note what Doc Watson is playing. So I learned a tune called ‘Nothing To It’ and that really helped. And from there, all of a sudden it was my electric guitar that was collecting dust.”
For all those stories and much more, check out Billy Strings’ interview on WTF with Marc Maron. Strings is back on the road, playing next on Tuesday in Minneapolis. For tickets and a full list of tour dates visit his website.
WTF With Marc Maron — Billy Strings
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