Bluegrass whiz kid Billy Strings on ties that bind

Billy Strings: Me/And/Dad (Rounder)

Traditionally speaking, bluegrass is a family affair, which might lead the casual listener to regard the new album from American bluegrass wunderkind Billy Strings (real name Billy Apostol) to adhere to genre norms. The family tag, as per the album title, forms the major part of Strings’ new work, but with a twist: when he was two, his father died of a heroin overdose. When he was a pre-teen, his mother ...