Billy Strings' 'Highway Prayers' Review
, a bluegrass prodigy turned crossover star like fellow genre travelers Alison Krauss and Chris Stapleton — but one who’s found a home in Jambandlandia, where his super-sick flatpicking guitar virtuosity has met with big fat dancing bear-hugs. Leaning into long instrumental journeys onstage , Strings’ original songs have proved solid jam vehicles.
But recent collaborations with Willie Nelson , Margo Price , and rising bluegrass hero Molly Tuttle — each one a winner — suggested something was afoot. That something, a doubling down on the art of the song, is confirmed on, a studio set produced by longtime LA studio guru Jon Brion, wingman on classics by Fiona Apple, Aimee Mann, Mac Miller and Kanye West.
For his part, Brion is careful to create a space that doesn’t feel too manipulated, not far from the approach a producer like Dave Cobb or T-Bone Burnett might take. But you wonder what could happen if Strings and Brion got weirder. That said, the music is most memorable when it dodges genre purism and gets baked.
On “Stratosphere Blues/ I Believe in You,” Strings trades speed-picking for Ebow electric guitar bent notes and gentle fingerstyle playing. “Catch and Release” is a talking blues a la Woody Guthrie or young Bob Dylan, but with a rhyme-packing flow that feels 21century, as Strings tells a pretty hilarious tale of getting stopped by a cop when driving super high in Tennessee . “MORBUD4ME” is built on a rhythm track of lighter flicks and bong rips. Sure, it’s probably funnier if you’re stoned.
'I Hope You Enjoy This Sad Ass Country Song': Margo Price Drops Billy Strings Duet 'Too Stoned to Cry'But it ends with a one-two punch. “The Beginning of the End” feels destined to be a concert-closing signature — “It’s the end of the show/ It’s the end of the record,” he sings plainly, building a faintly apocalyptic metaphor alongside encouragement to keep your friends and loved ones close.
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FYI, Those Annoying White Strings On Bananas Actually Have A PurposeKristen is the Editorial Director of Life and Commerce at HuffPost, overseeing the site's service journalism and e-commerce strategy related to food, drink, style, beauty, health, wellness, travel, relationships, parenting, work, home and more. Previously she worked at Martha Stewart, Major League Baseball and the New York Yankees.
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