Billy Strings Details New Album ‘Renewal’ and Shares Single

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By Stu Kelly / July 30, 2021

Billy Strings will release a new studio album titled Renewal on September 24 through Rounder Records. The bluegrass virtuoso also shared the album’s first single, “Fire Line.” The 16-track LP follows Strings’ 2019 studio album, Home, that won the Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album.

Renewal was recorded at Nashville’s Sound Emporium Studios and it was produced by Jonathan Wilson. The album features Strings (vocals, guitar, mandolin, piano, synth, guitjo) and Wilson (celesta, percussion, harpsichord) who were joined by Strings’ bandmates, Billy Failing (banjo, piano, vocals), Royal Masat (bass, vocals) and Jarrod Walker (mandolin, guitar, vocals), along with other guest contributors Spencer Cullum (pedal steel guitar), John Mailander (violin) and Grant Milliken (synthesizers). 

“A lot of people call us a bluegrass band and I don’t even know if that’s what we are anymore,” Strings said in a statement. “You’ve got to let the song do its thing. So that’s what I try to do — write songs and let them come out however they do. I listen to it now and it’s emotional. I’ve always doubted myself, and I still do, but this album makes me think, ‘Hey, you’re doing all right, kid. You just need to keep going.’”

The single “Fire Line” made its live debut on February 23 during Strings’ show at The Capitol Theatre in Port Chester, New York during the DeJa Vu Experiment streaming series. 

Renewal Tracklist:

1. Know It All
2. Secrets
3. Love and Regret
4. Heartbeat of America
5. In The Morning Light
6. This Old World
7. Show Me The Door
8. Hellbender
9. Red Daisy
10. The Fire On My Tongue
11. Nothing’s Working
12. Hide and Seek
13. Ice Bridges
14. Fire Line
15. Running The Route
16. Leaders

Check out the Renewal version of “Fire Line” below: