Billy Strings – So Much for Goodbyes

Crossover bluegrass stars have come and gone (David Grisman, Alison Krauss, Béla Fleck, etc.), and new stars have emerged (Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Greensky Bluegrass, etc.). But only Billy Strings fills arenas playing bluegrass and bluegrass-influenced music.

I like bluegrass music, but I am not as drawn to it as other rootsy genres. Billy Strings has really hooked me.

So Much for Goodbyes is not radically different from the rest of his catalog. Sonically, it is a bit more atmospheric. Lyrically, it is more serious. Overall, it has more of a singer-songwriter vibe. Strings’ vocals are the best yet.

Strings has been open about the inspiration for So Much for Goodbyes: grief, generational trauma, and the complex relationship with his mom, who passed away in 2025 due to an accidental drug overdose. Strings’ birth father overdosed when String was very young, and Strings’ mom has struggled with addiction, but Strings was not aware she had relapsed. Strings himself is now completely sober – his sole addictive vice is coffee. Given his family history, I applaud him.

Strings hired producer T Bone Burnett to help him with the album (Strings knew T Bone through other projects). Burnett has a great track record as a producer. Strings specifically sought out Burnett for this album to bring his magic touch to this emotionally raw, grief-filled project.

So Much for Goodbyes is my new favorite Billy Strings’s album. There are no tracks to skip, and there is enough sonic variety to hold my interest. A few tracks even have drums/percussion. If you just want to sample one track, try “Mill Town Flood.”

Streaming vs vinyl: Except for a little surface noise on the end of side one, the vinyl LP is great. Somehow it seems more real and more intimate. The high-resolution stream is 24-bit/96 kHz, and with the right gear it is pretty breathtaking.