3 Billy Strings Songs That Will End Up Being All-Time Classics

The Lansing, Michigan-born bluegrass player Billy Strings (born William Apostol) is one of the most important people in music today. With his charm, love of music and music history, and his effervescent talent, Strings is helping to popularize the genre, the acoustic guitar, and going out to jam band shows like no one else today.

Videos by American Songwriter

Here below, we wanted to explore three songs from Strings’ catalog that are fast rising among his fans. So much so that they are destined to be classics down the road. Indeed, these are three Billy Strings songs that will likely end up as standards in a few years.

[RELATED: How Did “Boomer” Evolve Into The “Billy Strings” Taking Over Bluegrass?]

“Taking Water” from Home (2019)

The opening song from Strings’ 2019 studio LP, this song has mood for days. The song, which Strings performed on Jimmy Kimmel Live! to help promote the record, demonstrates Strings’ musicianship as well as his pure knack for composing a song. It’s rich with metaphor—a boat is sinking, it’s taking water. So what do we do? We have to turn around. Well, what’s the soundtrack to that? What’s the soundtrack to decaying neighborhoods? What do we do? Come together and inspect it and make it better. That’s the feeling this song gives. Yes, it can be bad. But it can be better, too.

“California Sober” (Single, 2023)

At some point in his life, Strings stopped his drinking habit and turned to a new state of mind. He became what is known as “California sober,” which means the artist only uses cannabis. And that is the subject of this tune, which he put together with another great musical stoner, country star Willie Nelson. So many of us know what it’s like to drink too much on a given night (or decade). And we know what it means to put the bottle down and trade it in for a pleasant pipe to unwind. With high energy and a pleasant vibe, Strings makes a great case for going this route. Add Willie to the mix? And it’s already a classic for the ages.

“Love and Regret” from Renewal (2021)

Love and regret—are there any two words found more commonly in great songs? We get and we lose. We love and we mourn. It might be hard to imagine that someone who can play about 1,000 notes in a few seconds (as the nimble Strings is able to) can write a song that tugs on your heartstrings. But that’s just what the guitar player does here. We feel his pain. We feel his worry and his heartbroken insides. We’ve been there. And this track helps remind us and get these feelings out for at least a little while. Until they inevitably come back again.

Photo by John Shearer/Getty Images