new-music – Charlie Curnow

“Highway Prayers” is the new album from bluegrass singer and guitarist Billy Strings released on September 27, 2024.

It’s Strings’ fourth album overall and his first studio album for Reprise Records following a live album released earlier this year. It’s also the follow-up to 2021’s “Renewal” and 2022’s “Me/And/Dad,” a collection of traditional bluegrass and country tracks made with Strings’ father, the singer/guitarist Terry Barber.

“Highway Prayers” was co-produced by Los Angeles industry veteran Jon Brion, who has previously worked with artists including Fiona Apple and Jellyfish. It totals 74 minutes over 20 tracks.

Over the course of the album, Strings and his band touch stylistically on psychedelia and Americana in addition to a few comedic novelties. The material is all bound, however, by an adherence to string-band instrumentation and virtuoso-level musicianship.

Although Strings has lived in Nashville for nearly a decade according to AllMusic, the songs make frequent references to his home state of Michigan. These references occur through both lyrics, and instrumental odes to Upper Peninsula locales.

All in all, “Highway Prayers” would seem to provide bluegrass, jam band, folk rock and country music fans as well as guitar enthusiasts with a thoughtful and relatable set of songs. Supported throughout by Strings’ exceptional guitar skills.

The album’s tendency to delve into social and political issues might also resonate with many fans. As might its channeling of the excitement and energy of Strings’ live performances.

As during Strings’ live shows, the album’s instrumentals tend to showcase the technical prowess and musical innovation of his band. As well as their signature blend of traditional bluegrass with more modern rock and folk influences.

On “Highway Prayers,” this band includes Strings’ longtime personnel of Billy Failing on banjo, Royal Masat on bass, Jarrod Walker on mandolin and Alex Hargraves on fiddle. As well as numerous other contributors.

Strings was born William Apostol in 1992 in Lansing, Michigan. He relocated with his mother to Morehead, Kentucky following the death of his biological father when Strings was two, and his mother’s remarriage to Barber. Both Barber and Strings’ uncle were accomplished musicians, and the youngster was surrounded by acoustic music practically from birth.

At the age of four, Strings asked for a guitar, and he was soon learning to play on a second-hand instrument that cost $25. By age six he was good enough to join Barber at bluegrass picking parties, and his aunt gave him the nickname Billy Strings.

By middle school Strings picked up electric guitar and was playing in a heavy metal band. But by the time he completed high school he had returned to playing bluegrass. After graduation he moved to Traverse City in Northern Michigan. And found a mentor and picking partner in the mandolist Don Julin.

Strings and Julin recorded a duo album titled “Rock of Ages,” and Strings also recorded a home-brewed solo album in 2014 called “Fiddle Tune X.”

In 2016, Strings left Traverse City for Nashville. He released the album “Turmoil & Tinfoil” in 2017. It was produced by Glenn Brown, who had previously worked with the string band Greensky Bluegrass and singer-songwriter Luke Winslow-King.

Strings subsequently landed a deal with roots music specialists Rounder Records and released the album “Home” in 2019.

“No Name” is the latest album from former White Stripes blues-rock singer and guitarist Jack White released during July and August of 2024.

Overall it’s a straightforward rock & roll album consisting of 13 guitar-based songs. Stylistically, these songs meld the punk-influenced minimalism of the White Stripes with blues-rock obsessions like Led Zeppelin, making them a return to more familiar territory for White.

This is a contrast with White’s two albums released in 2022, “Fear of the Dawn” and “Entering Heaven Alive,” which found him introspectively exploring the outer margins of his music. Explorations that were fueled by White’s struggle with the isolation of the Covid-19 pandemic, according to AllMusic.

The lyrics on “No Name” are full of blues-style boasts and brags, and matched by rhyming guitar licks. Lead guitar lines tend to swing from elemental chunkiness to more technical flash.

And a clean, unobtrusive production style lets other musicians be heard clearly without taking focus off White himself. Making for an idiosyncratic but on the whole economic and powerful set of rock tunes.

Another essential part of the story of the album is the publicity stunt surrounding its release. On July 19, 2024, anyone who made a purchase at one of White’s Third Man stores in Detroit, Nashville or London found a mysterious LP in a plain white sleeve in their bags. The white labels on the records were simply stamped “No Name.”

Before long, music media outlets were reporting widely on stories about White releasing a new album in a manner that was both secretive and bound to call attention to itself. Needle-drop bootlegs of the album soon circulated online, and within a week “No Name” had an official wide release.

All in all, “No Name” would seem to offer classic rock, blues, indie, alternative and garage rock fans a raw and energetic listening experience with a stripped-down production style.

White’s passionate vocals could resonate with fans who appreciate authenticity and raw energy in their music. And his eclectic mix of blues, rock and experimental sounds could appeal to listeners who admire a willingness to push boundaries.

The prominence White gave to the vinyl LP version of the album during the release process might further appeal to fans who appreciate the physical and tactile experience of traditional records. And who are drawn by White’s commitment to analog formats.

One of the great rock conceptualists of the 21^st century, White came to fame as the leader of the White Stripes, the Detroit-based garage-punk duo who became of the biggest rock acts of the 2000s.

While the White Stripes established White as a roots rocker, he also continued to maintain an interest in modernist art. These dueling, sometimes complementary instincts fueled myriad artistic pursuits for White both inside and outside the confines of the White Stripes.

Almost immediately after their album “White Blood Cells” became a blockbuster for the White Stripes in 2001, White began stepping out of the band’s confines. He produced the 2004 album “Van Lear Rose” for country singer-songwriter Loretta Lynn, and formed the bands the Raconteurs and the Dead Weather.

After the breakup of the White Stripes in 2011, White divided his time between his Third Man Records empire and his two remaining bands. As well as a solo career that became increasingly idiosyncratic with each new album.

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