Billy Strings Wins His First Grammy for Home

Billy Strings won Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd Annual Grammy Awards on March 14, 2021 for Home, released in 2019.

It was his first Grammy win, and it came on his first nomination in any category.

The award was announced during the Recording Academy’s premiere ceremony, a Sunday afternoon session streamed online ahead of the CBS telecast reserved for the top pop categories.

Four other records in the category

Strings took the award over a field of four. The other nominees were Danny Barnes for Man on Fire, Thomm Jutz for To Live in Two Worlds, Vol. 1, Steep Canyon Rangers for North Carolina Songbook and a various-artists set, The John Hartford Fiddle Tune Project, Vol. 1.

Strings watched the announcement at home in front of a computer, a Grateful Dead Avalon ‘66 poster on the wall behind him. In footage posted to his Instagram account he says “I’m so nervous, oh my God” before the category is read, and, as the presenter works through the list, “If Danny won it, I’d be pretty stoked.”

“My heart is, like, pounding,” he says a moment later. His first words after his name is called are unprintable.

Thank yous that ran through Michigan

In his acceptance he thanked his mother and father in Ionia County, his band, his team, his sponsors, the Recording Academy and co-producer Glenn Brown of East Lansing.

“And last, but most of all, all the fans who come out to the shows and see us play,” he said.

Strings, whose given name is William Apostol, is from the town of Muir in Ionia County, Michigan, and now lives in Nashville. He was named new artist of the year and guitar player of the year at the 2019 International Bluegrass Music Awards, after an earlier momentum award from the International Bluegrass Music Association.

He posted afterward on Facebook: “Thank you, thank you, thank you: to the band, the team, the fans.” On Instagram he wrote that he was “beyond grateful for the amazing humans behind this record,” and added, “I wish I could hug every single person listed on these album credits.”

The record that won it

Home came out September 27, 2019 on Rounder Records, Strings’s second studio album and his first for the label. It was cut in January 2019 at Blackbird Studios’ Studio D in Nashville, followed by a further week at Southern Ground Nashville, with Glenn Brown producing.

The core band on the record is banjoist Billy Failing, bassist Royal Masat and mandolinist Jarrod Walker. Guests include guitarist Molly Tuttle, fiddler John Mailander, tabla player John Churchville and dobro player Jerry Douglas.

A ceremony almost nobody attended

The 63rd Annual ceremony ran on a reduced footprint. Because of the pandemic, only presenters and nominees in the major televised categories attended in person at Staples Center in Los Angeles, and winners in the untelevised afternoon awards accepted by video call.

The same session carried two posthumous wins for John Prine, who took Best American Roots Performance and Best American Roots Song for “I Remember Everything,” co-written with Pat McLaughlin. Toots & The Maytals won Best Reggae Album, also posthumously.

Other winners announced that afternoon included Sarah Jarosz for Best Americana Album, Fiona Apple for Best Alternative Music Album, The Strokes for Best Rock Album, Bobby Rush for Best Traditional Blues Album, Snarky Puppy for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album and The Highwomen for Best Country Song.

Back on the road this spring

Strings has a full slate of 2021 concerts booked, beginning later this month in Florida. Announced dates include three nights at the Saint Augustine Amphitheatre in St. Augustine, four at the Columbia Speedway Entertainment Center in Columbia, South Carolina, three at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile, Alabama, and an Austin appearance as part of Luck Reunion.

Livestreams continue in the meantime, with broadcasts scheduled from Tipitina’s in New Orleans and from Austin City Limits Live at The Moody Theater.

Sources: The Recording Academy (Grammy.com), Jambands.com, Local Spins, Live For Live Music, Live For Live Music, Bluegrass Today.

Photo: Jesse Faatz, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.