National Public Radio’s ‘Fresh Air’ last week aired a revealing interview with the Ionia County-bred bluegrass star, who’s still haunted by the overdose death of his mother. Excerpts at Local Spins.
Striving to Make ‘Songs for People to Heal Them’: Billy Strings (Photo/Derek Ketchum)
SEPT. 19 UPDATE: Billy Strings was named “Entertainer of the Year” at the Bluegrass Music Awards hosted by the International Bluegrass Music Association.
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LISTEN TO THE COMPLETE ‘FRESH AIR’ INTERVIEW AT NPR.ORG HERE. SCROLL DOWN FOR A ‘BILLY STRINGS TIMELINE’ OF THE PAST YEAR
After playing sold-out concerts this week in Tennessee and appearing at Minnesota’s star-studded Farm Aid 40 (with Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dave Matthews and John Mellencamp), bluegrass phenom Billy Strings heads overseas for a run of much-ballyhooed European dates.
The high-profile tour stops add to what’s rolled out as year of exceptional highs and crushing lows for the Ionia County-bred guitarist who overcame a rocky childhood to ascend the ranks of bluegrass stardom, enticing a whole new generation of fans embracing his oft-progressive take on the genre.
Behind the scenes, that remarkable journey hasn’t come without emotional and painful setbacks – something William Apostol, aka Billy Strings, recently revealed in a surprisingly frank and outspoken interview with Sam Briger as part of National Public Radio and Terry Gross’ “Fresh Air.”
“I’m high-strung. I’ve got a lot of anxiety and stress, and I’m moving around a lot,” Billy told Briger during that interview airing last week. “I’ve been really busy the last several years and I’ve got a lot of my own personal stuff that just haunts me on a daily basis.
Honoring His Mom: Billy, at right, with his mother, Deb Apostol, and stepdad Terry Barber. (Courtesy Photo)
“I try to do everything I can to just be cool and get my nervous system to chill, but it just seems like I don’t know what I can do to calm it, you know? I do the best I can and I’m doing OK. But it’s a daily kind of struggle to just stay on the ground.”
That struggle became even more difficult the night after Billy and his band played a buzz-generating, family-styled, headlining set on June 19 at the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, just a short drive from Muir where the guitarist grew up.
His mother, Debra Apostol, died in her sleep after an apparent drug overdose (something Billy revealed in that “Fresh Air” interview) while the band was on its way to a sold-out show in Lexington, Ky.
Billy announced his mother’s passing in an emotional on-stage announcement to fans before the band took the stage in Lexington.
“She was always in the mix, right up front (at concerts). She’d show up in New Orleans or Seattle or somewhere, and I wouldn’t even know she was coming,” Billy told Briger.
“She was just a wild one, and she was really living her best life in this last little bit. … but I worried about her running into the wrong people. She’s been an addict my whole life and had short stints where she was doing pretty good, you know? … And then she did get wrapped up in the wrong stuff and that’s why she’s not here anymore.”
Billy went on to talk about growing up in Ionia County with his parents “being strung out” and how he “moved out when I was like 13 because the house was no longer a home. … It’s a wonder that I was even going to school.”
After graduating high school, he left Ionia and moved to Traverse City where he embraced a new world of possibilities — beaches, art galleries, singer-songwriters and open-mic nights, the city where he eventually met mandolinist Don Julin and launched his career as a bluegrass star.
But he can’t escape the past – from the joy of “learning all these Doc Watson tunes” from his dad as a young lad to the sadness of dealing with a difficult childhood and the loss of his mother.
Deb Apostol (Photo/John Sinkevics)
“It’s messed with me my whole life, and now it’s going to mess with me for the rest of it,” he said in the “Fresh Air” interview. “I have complex, post-traumatic stress, and I have anxiety and depression, and I have for years tried to deal with this stuff just that happened to me when I was a kid.”
In typical Billy fashion, however, the guitarist – who’s married to Ally Dale and has a son, River Roy Apostol, who turns 1 on Sept. 29 – aims to turn all of that into a positive as a performer, songwriter and role model.
“I think my duty here is to continue doing what I’m doing. Use all that beautiful energy that I get from her (his mother), that crazy wild streak. I’ve got to use that and, you know, honor her in that way,” he said.
“I feel a great kind of duty as far as just writing down these words, making these songs for people to heal them. Maybe someday I’ll actually be able to help kids that are in the situation that I was in … like open a rehab or something like that to … help combat this, because it’s really hard.”
Following that European tour, Billy Strings and his band return to the United States for a string of fall dates in Alabama, Maryland, Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Kentucky, Oklahoma and Texas. He also today announced his winter tour, featuring a bevy of February shows, with a ticket pre-sale starting Wednesday.
SEPT. 19 UPDATE: Billy Strings was named “Entertainer of the Year” at the Bluegrass Music Awards hosted by the International Bluegrass Music Association.
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