Intro

 So this idea came to me while listening to the What's The Reason For This podcast interview with Todd & Becky who run BMFSDB. Their story of creating a database of Billy Strings setlists just for the love of the music got me inspired. As I listened to the discussion of the songs people on the pod were chasing, it got me thinking about my introduction to bluegrass, how it led me to Billy Strings & how that led me to discover songs & artists that I may not have come across without hearing their songs played by Mr. Apostol.

I started listening to bluegrass about 13 years ago when I started going to a local festival to hang out with my little sister & her kids. Before that, I knew who Doc Watson was had heard some Flatt & Scruggs, but that was about it. That whole festival experience, with the all-night picking & (at least around here) big hippie/deadhead overlap was pretty appealing, to say the least. 

I'm a big music nerd. I play guitar & play at some other instruments. Usually when I start exploring a genre of music, within a year I find myself listening to some scratchy 78s from the 20's. Bluegrass was a whole new field to explore & I went after it. Starting with Sam Bush, Del McCoury, Doyle Lawson & others I experienced live, I started working through the web of players.

A few years later, I started hearing the name "Billy Strings" from (it seemed like) all the musical heavyweights I followed. A little while later, I snagged tickets for two nights of this new hotshot guitarist opening for Jason Isbell.

And then COVID, so that show didn't happen. By the time shows restarted, Billy was too big to be opening. I got my first chance to see him in 2021 & there were a few songs that blew my mind. Since then, his cover selection has really accelerated my discovery of bluegrass (and bluegrass adjacent) music. 

So I'm going to share info about the music. Some I discovered via Billy. Some I found on my own. But all will be songs that Billy's played live. That gives me plenty of material. Posts will be a mix of information & my opinion or impressions of the music. Believe it if you need it, if you don't just pass it on.