Billy Strings plays through the pain to deliver an exceptional performance.
Much has been written of Billy Strings’ experience growing up in Michigan, losing his father to a drug overdose at the age of 2 and then being brought up by his mother and stepfather. The latter introduced him to bluegrass for which Strings thanked him by seeking out his beloved Martin guitar which he had to sell to support his family. In 2022, Strings released Me And Dad, an album of favourite songs recorded with his stepdad.
In the summer of 2025, Strings lost his mother, Debra Apostol, at 64 to a drug overdose. He hadn’t realised she was using drugs and was heartbroken. That grief runs through So Much For Goodbyes. The album artwork was created by his mother and the final song on the album, Debra’s Waltz, bears her name.
So Much For Goodbyes was produced by T Bone Burnett at Nashville’s Sound Emporium in late January 2026, with Debra’s Waltz having been tracked at Nashville’s Third Man Studios a couple of weeks earlier. He was joined by his core band: Billy Failing (banjo), Royal Masat (bass), Jarrod Walker (mandolin) and Alex Hargreaves (fiddle). They are supplemented by Bryan Sutton (guitar), Alwyn Robinson (percussion), Paul Franklin (pedal steel), Mickey Raphael (harmonica) and PJ George (harmonium) and an all-star array of backing vocalists including Burnett, jack White, Allison Krauss, Del McCoury, Lindsay Lou, Tim O’Brien, Chris Henry and Dan Tyminski.
The sixteen songs are spread over four sides of vinyl or one CD and run the gamut of Strings’ incendiary playing and performance to heartrending mournful tunes. The mood rises and falls throughout So Much For Goodbyes.
Opener I’m One Of Those has a gospely tint while Strings’ vocal hints at wistful nostalgia. Burn The Other End rolls in with a smokier feel and some playing that hints at Greek folk music leading into an explosive chorus. Hargreaves’ fiddle blows a storm. The third song, Carry Us Home is simply Strings and Sutton, two guitar masters interplaying with expert subtlety.
Lay Me Down is a bluegrass death classic “Lay me down on the hillside/ lay me down and walk away”. The band get right down while McCoury’s backing vocal rings with that lonesome sound. The side 2 opener, Lucid Daydream, has a distinctly prog edge to it. The instruments interact less traditionally and work in interesting keys and rhythms.
The remainder of side 2 starts with a ballad Mill Town Flood adorned with George’s harmonium and some sweet harmonies enhanced by guest vocalist Lindsay Lou, followed by Live To Tell embellished by Franklin’s pedal steel and featuring a guitar lick redolent of Garcia’s Bird Song. Strings’ vocal has a haunted tone to it. Robinson’s drums make for a low-key country rocker. It closes with Bluewater Breakdown where Strings and the band really go for it. Anyone who has seen them live will appreciate just how breathtaking they can be.
Side 3 begins with a return to the gospel these in Light The Way. Strings sings “when you’re looking down from heaven won’t you light the way for me” and it’s hard not to feel the tug of emotion. I Like Train Songs shares the joy of train songs. This one sounds like it should a be a real banger live on stage with a rake of stomping and jamming. Song 3 side 3, 10,000 Miles From A Friend, begins with a valedictory fiddle melody and tells a desperately sad story of loneliness and addiction. The final song of the side, Still I Crash, is performed solo by Strings and his sense of loss is laid bare as he opens “Mother where did you go now/ Tell me I need to know how/ I am supposed to go on without you”; the listener needs the side break to take a moment.
I Wish I Wanted To which opens the final side rolls in with a touch of the Beatles interpreted by Leon Russell with an appropriately funky beat. Remember To Cry takes off at a lick with Strings’ vocal dealing with loss and affection at a level both deeply personal and somehow universal. Wrestling An Angel is something of a homage to Farther Along weaving themes of loss, faith and salvation. The final tune, Debra’s Waltz, is performed by the whole band illustrated in the booklet by a portrait of Strings’ late mother. Musically the tune conjures the closeness of the dance with the sadness for one gone too soon.
So Much For Goodbyes is an album that demonstrates the many facets of Strings’ and his band’s musicianship while expressing a full range of emotions. And doing it very well indeed.
