Bluegrass Sensation Billy Strings’ Saratoga Origin Story

SARATOGA SPRINGS — Billy Strings might be the most popular bluegrass musician on the planet right now, adored by both genre purists and jam band fans alike. Ahead of his headlining Nov. 12 concert at the MVP Arena in Albany, Saratoga TODAY uncovered a little-known story about Strings’ journey to the top, which passed through the famed Spa City folk venue Caffe Lena.

Alan Epstein is a local musician who sometimes teaches mandolin classes at Lena. In the fall of 2013, he received an email from a friend and fellow mandolin player, Don Julin, praising a young guitarist named Billy Strings, who would’ve been around 21 years old at the time. Epstein trusted Julin’s ear for music and decided to book a concert featuring Julin and Strings at a yoga studio in Greenwich. 

“We invited Don and Billy to stay with us, and I remember, like it was yesterday, the day they arrived,” Epstein told Saratoga TODAY. “They had driven straight through from Traverse City, and after they unloaded their gear, Billy took out his guitar and started to pick and sing. [My wife] Bonnie and I were speechless. It felt like, for lack of better words, he was the real deal. I called all my friends and told them to come out to the concert. It was a small crowd but an outstanding show.”

Fast forward a year later, and Epstein received another email from Julin about booking a second show with Strings. This time, the yoga studio was booked, so Epstein needed a backup plan. He had recently begun hosting a monthly bluegrass jam at Caffe Lena, so he reached out to Sarah Craig, the venue’s executive director. The two couldn’t figure out an immediate booking solution, so Epstein and his wife Bonnie decided to host the bluegrass wunderkind at their home in Greenwich. Craig was among the 32 privileged few in attendance who gathered in Epstein’s living room to hear Strings play. It was at this house show, Epstein recalled, that Craig spoke with Julin about booking him and Strings at Caffe Lena for the following spring.

According to the caffe’s records, Strings and Julin then played a show there on April 3, 2015. Epstein called it “one of the best I had ever heard them play.” While Strings was in town, he stayed at Epstein’s home, where the pair jammed together. They picked “Bill Monroe tunes on two mandolins after I had made us all a breakfast of fried matzah,” Epstein said.

That memorable experience would predate Strings’ rise to nationwide fame, which was still a couple years away. In 2017, Rolling Stone named Strings one of “ten new country artists you need to know.” Also that year, Strings released his debut solo studio album, “Turmoil & Tinfoil,” which landed on the Billboard Bluegrass Albums chart for seven straight weeks. HuffPost proclaimed the album to be among the best of the year. It was the beginning of a whirlwind that would result in Strings collaborating with big names like Willie Nelson and Luke Combs, as well as earning a 2021 Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album that cemented his reputation as a bonafide star.

But Strings’ success was never a sure thing. In fact, far from it. He was born in Michigan in 1992, to a biological father who would die of a heroin overdose when Strings was only two years old. While still a child, Strings’ mother and stepfather struggled with methamphetamine addiction. At just 13, he left home and battled addiction himself.     

“My parents are recovering addicts,” Strings told podcaster Theo Von in an interview last year. “They’re doing so great these days. We all are, too. It’s like we’ve all sort of made it through some crazy shit and we made it out the other side and we went, ‘Holy shit, how the hell did we do that?’ But all that is to say that I’m super proud of my parents these days and I’m proud of myself. We all made it.”

Somehow, Strings emerged from a rough start in life to become both “California sober” and a wildly successful musician. It’s an unlikely journey that included a few early stopovers in the Saratoga area, where locals quickly saw the gifts Strings had to offer.

“I’m a big fan of Billy Strings and I love what he has done for bluegrass music,” Epstein said.

Those unfamiliar with Strings’ talent will have a chance to see it up close on Nov. 12, when he plays at the MVP Arena in Albany.