[Update]: Billy Strings added to his trail of breadcrumbs Wednesday with another post fueling speculation that new music is on the way. The ever-climbing bluegrass guitarist and live tour de force fueled intrigue earlier this week when he posted a simple graphic of Friday’s date and the logo for Reprise Records.
Following a similarly cryptic style, the brief 15-second video contains the text “Meet Me At The Creek > Pyramid Country > Must Be Seven > Meet Me At The Creek” which, combined with a snippet of live audio, seems to point in the direction of a live album. In accordance with the previous post, the caption simply reads “Friday.”
Given this recent activity, Strings’ recent Spotify Wrapped message to fans takes on added meaning. From under the hood of his car, Strings told his most dedicated streaming listeners, “Thanks for listening to the records, we hope to make many more. And maybe even some live ones.”
Strings has yet to release a live album with his solo band, though he did put out 2014’s Fiddle Tune X documenting a duo performance with mandolinist Don Julin consisting mostly of traditional bluegrass songs. Rather than sharing an official live album, Billy has instead opted to upload audio of all his concerts to nugs. Given Strings’ prodigious touring schedule, there should be no shortage of material to choose from for a possible live album.
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[12/5/23]: Billy Strings is up to something: the globetrotting, bluegrass-picking guitar sensation has shared a graphic implying that new music could be on the way this week. The mysterious new cover photo on Strings’ Facebook page early Tuesday morning simply features the date 12/8/23 and the logo for Reprise Records.
With no other context, fans are left hopeful that Strings is preparing to release new music, possibly an album. If true, the new release would mark Strings’ first via Reprise. He previously issued his Grammy-winning 2019 breakthrough, Home; the Grammy-nominated 2021 follow-up, Renewal; and the 2022 Grammy-nominated cover album featuring his father, Me/And/Dad, through Rounder Records. Strings self-released his 2017 full-length debut, Turmoil & Tinfoil, as well as his 2016 self-titled EP.
If a new album is on the way, Strings certainly has no shortage of material that could be included. Throughout a prodigious, bordering-on-unrelenting tour schedule Billy and his band have consistently dished out new material in the years since Renewal. Most recently, his original “Cabin Song” was featured on the soundtrack to the new The Hunger Games prequel. Around that same time, during his most recent trip to Europe, he debuted the new instrumental “Escanaba”.
This past summer, he also treated audiences in Cleveland to the debut of “Be Your Man“. Of course, there’s also his collaboration with Willie Nelson, “California Sober“, one of several collabs Strings earned Grammy nods for this year including songs with Dierks Bentley and the Me/And/Dad album with his father Terry Barber.
Whatever Strings is hinting at, the trail of breadcrumbs arrives just before Billy and company return to the stage on Wednesday in Greensboro, NC. After returning from his second annual tour of Europe last month, Strings took time off the road for Thanksgiving and will now wind down his touring year with a brief East Coast run featuring shows in North Carolina, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre, PA, and Syracuse. For the second year in a row, Billy will ring in the new year at New Orleans’ UNO Lakefront Arena with the New Year’s Eve run expanded from two to three nights this year. For tickets and a full list of tour dates visit his website.