Billy Strings
Latest Billy Strings news, guitars, gear, music, performances, and collaborations covered by Guitar Radar.
Guitar Radar has 4 stories about Billy Strings, tracking new music, tours, collaborations and gear. Most of it sits under players and music. The most recent story, from Sep 29, 2026, is “Billy Strings joins Pearl Jam for an acoustic singalong and a Mike McCready guitar duel at Ohana”. Coverage here goes back to Aug 31, 2026.
About Billy Strings
Billy Strings is an American bluegrass guitarist and singer known for blistering flatpicking and for stretching the genre into long, improvised, psychedelic-leaning live shows. He plays acoustic guitar almost exclusively, and his best-known instrument is a vintage 1940 Martin D-28.
That guitar became the template for Martin's D-28 Billy Strings signature model. According to Martin, it is based on his prized 1940 D-28 and tailored to his speed and bend-heavy style: a 25-inch scale length that lowers string tension, a custom nut slightly wider than the pre-war original, a low oval satin neck, solid East Indian rosewood back and sides with a spruce top, and scalloped bracing. Guitar Radar follows Martin's artist models and bluegrass-scene coverage as it develops.
Sources: Martin D-28 Billy Strings (dealer listing quoting Martin) · The Acoustic Shoppe: Martin D-28 Billy Strings overview · Wikipedia: Billy Strings
Stories
Billy Strings joins Pearl Jam for an acoustic singalong and a Mike McCready guitar duel at Ohana
The unannounced guest spot moved from “Elderly Woman” to the Neil Young-era “Throw Your Hatred Down” during Pearl Jam's festival-closing set.
Sep 29, 2026
Trey Anastasio and Billy Strings announce two Divided Sky benefit concerts
The two guitarists will perform together with Trey Anastasio Band for two Worcester shows supporting addiction-recovery care.
Sep 9, 2026
Billy Strings trades his Martin for a Charvel to play death metal with Cryptopsy
At the inaugural Ionia Freak Fair, the bluegrass virtuoso joined Canadian death-metal band Cryptopsy for a cameo on a relic'd Charvel Superstrat.
Sep 3, 2026
Billy Strings turns grief into flatpicking on 'So Much For Goodbyes'
The bluegrass guitarist's fifth studio album, produced with T Bone Burnett and released August 28, was written after his mother's death and carries her artwork on the cover.
Aug 31, 2026