Americana phenom Billy Strings’ major label debut, “Highway Prayers” fulfills all the promise he has shown since he burst onto the jam band scene ten years ago. It’s 20 original songs jump from high octane bluegrass raveups to country rock tear jerkers with stops for talking blues and acapella performances all the while adhering to the album’s theme of the backroads he has traveled all his life.
Strings is a multi-instrumentalist virtuoso and jams with the likes of Jerry Douglas, Matt Chamberlain and producer Jon Brion, his hot, flatpicking guitar and banjos the focus of each song.
Each song is a showstopper in and of itself and the album sounds like a unconscious tribute to hippie string band classics like “Old and In The Way” and “Will the Circle Be unbroken.” The humor Strings displays is as compelling as his playing.
Top notch storytelling, pitch perfect harmonies, instrumental prowess and a double album’s worth of songs with no filler make “Highway Prayers” one of the best albums of the year.