Young bluegrass phenom Billy Strings is back at Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre on Dec. 18
From a press release:
After playing in the theater’s lobby at the beginning of the year, it was announced today that bluegrass sensation Billy Strings will return to the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre towards the end of the year on Tuesday, Dec. 18 at 8 p.m. as part of the venue’s “Live from the Chandelier Lobby” concert series.
Tickets, which are $20 in advance or $25 the day of the show, plus fees, go on sale this Friday, Sept. 7 at 10 a.m. and will be available at the Sundance Vacations Box Office at the Kirby Center (71 Public Square, Wilkes-Barre), online at kirbycenter.org, and by phone at 570-826-1100. An exclusive Kirby Member pre-sale begins on Thursday, Sept. 6 at 10 a.m.
Billy Strings plays hard and he lives hard, picking so fast and intensely that he’s known to break multiple strings per song, and basing the songs he writes on the hard lives he grew up around in the abandoned rural communities of America.
Raised in Michigan and based in Nashville, Strings – real name William Apostol – learned music from his father, who had learned it from his father and his father before him. Maybe that’s why, at 25, Strings’ songs, his articulation, his entire approach, sounds so authentic and steeped in tradition.
While Strings’ profile as a guitarist and singer in the acoustic/bluegrass scene continues to grow, he has already earned some landmark achievements.
He has shared stages with Del McCoury, David Grisman, Larry Keel, Sam Bush, Greensky Bluegrass, The Infamous Stringdusters, Yonder Mountain Stringband, Leftover Salmon, Scranton/Wilkes-Barre’s own Cabinet, and more. He has also landed coveted slots at festivals like Pickathon, Merlefest, DelFest, High Sierra Music Festival, Grey Fox, and the Susquehanna Breakdown in Scranton, to name a few.
And the industry has taken notice – Strings won the IBMA 2016 Momentum Awards Instrumentalist of the Year for guitar, banjo, and mandolin and was voted No. 1 in scene tastemaker Bluegrass Situation’s Top 16 of ’16.
Strings’ first full-length album, “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” taps into a deep vein of psychedelia in Americana, referencing everything from the Grateful Dead to Sturgill Simpson, but all underlaid by his undeniable virtuosity and his knowledge of the roots of American music.
He’s one of the most beloved young bluegrass guitarists today within the bluegrass community, and his front porch in East Nashville is constantly filled up with Nashville’s best roots musicians just picking up a storm.
See NEPA Scene’s photos of Billy Strings playing at the Kirby Center back in January here and see photos from the 2017 Susquehanna Breakdown here.
Photo by Jason Riedmiller Photography/NEPA Scene
