The rumors are no longer rumors: Powerhouse bluegrass guitarist Billy Strings, a West Michigan native, will make an Oct. 31 tour stop at the sprawling Grand Rapids venue. Details at Local Spins.
Grand Rapids (and Homeward) Bound: Billy Strings (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
It’s official: Billy Strings will play Van Andel Arena on Halloween.
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The long-buzzed-about rumors proved true this morning when the 12,000-seat Grand Rapids venue announced that the Ionia County-bred bluegrass star would headline an Oct. 31 tour stop.
Tickets go on sale to the general public at 10 a.m. Friday (April 28) and fans can sign up for an “artist presale” that begins at 10 a.m. Wednesday (April 26) online here. More details here.
There’s likely to be a flood of interest from Michigan fans eager to celebrate the Grammy Award-winning guitarist’s first Grand Rapids show in several years.
Bluegrass Hero: The award-winning Billy Strings. (Photo/Anna Sink)
The internationally acclaimed guitarist and his band has become the face of the burgeoning bluegrass movement in recent years, with chart-topping albums such as 2019’s “Home,” 2021’s “Renewal” and 2022’s “Me / And / Dad,” recorded with his stepfather, Terry Barber.
While he and his band played Michigan dates last November (including a sold-out show at Kalamaoo’s Wings Event Center), Billy Strings hasn’t played in Grand Rapids since a New Year’s Eve show at The Intersection in 2019. He was supposed to play three straight nights at GLC Live at 20 Monroe in late 2021, but those concerts were canceled due to COVID.
The Oct. 31 show will be the first time he’s played Van Andel Arena. It comes after he’s slated to play a capacity concert at Clarkston’s Pine Knob Music Theatre north of Detroit on June 16.
Hailing from the tiny community of Muir, William Apostol (aka, Billy Strings) first made a splash as part of a Traverse City duo with mandolinist Don Julin, before moving to Nashville and starting his own band, filled with virtuoso talent.
He’s now selling out venues across the globe. So, today’s announcement also makes things official in another way: Billy Strings has become an arena-worthy superstar.
Oh, and a Halloween show means we’ll likely see lots of “Billy Goats” in the audience.
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