Bluegrass Star Billy Strings / Laufey

Summary

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Fresh Air Weekend: Bluegrass Star Billy Strings / Laufey

Date: December 27, 2025
Podcast: Fresh Air from WHYY (NPR)
Host(s): Sam Briger, Terry Gross

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Episode Overview

This episode features two of the year’s standout interviews. The first half is an intimate conversation with bluegrass sensation Billy Strings, whose music bridges traditional bluegrass with improvisational jams and honest, soul-baring lyrics. He discusses personal struggles, artistic influences, and performs live. The second half features Laufey, the Grammy-winning Icelandic-Chinese singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist who blends classical, jazz, and pop. She shares her multicultural upbringing, approach to music, and performs several songs.

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Segment 1: Billy Strings — Bridging Tradition and Personal Story

Interview by: Sam Briger
Segment Begins: 00:50

Key Themes & Discussion Points

• Bluegrass Roots and Doc Watson’s Influence
  Strings recounts learning Doc Watson tunes as a child and how Watson remains foundational:

  “He’s like the ground upon which I stand ... I was learning how to speak and talk and walk, and I was learning all these Doc Watson tunes at the same time, and it was just like a religion in my house.” (05:33)

• Expressive Storytelling & Vocals
  On Doc Watson's and other legendary artists' story-driven singing:

  “It was always the information of the song came through ... People like Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson— you press mute, it just looks like she’s talking to you. She’s telling the story.” (06:34)

• Performance Anxiety and Self-Evaluation
  Strings reflects on mental health, personal struggles, and the challenge of staying grounded amidst success:

  “I’m high strung. I got a lot of anxiety and stress, and I’m moving around a lot ... It’s a daily kind of struggle to just stay on the ground.” (07:54)

• The Guitar as Refuge and Joy
  Performing live is cathartic compared to practice:

  “If I’m on stage, that’s where the joy is...that’s where the fun is.” (08:48)

• Family, Loss, and Catharsis Through Songwriting
  Strings discusses the death of his mother, her struggles with addiction, and music as healing:

  “Sometimes it’s hard ... that’s how I felt when I sang on stage the night my mom died. It was cathartic.” (13:40)
  “Really, I’m the one that needs to hear it. And I wrote that for myself so that I could heal.” (14:08)

• Exploring Trauma and Addiction
  Candidly discusses childhood neglect, family addiction, and abuse:

  “I was around the corner being molested, you know, before I was 10 years old ... It’s really hard because there’s such beautiful people and they taught me so much about music. But yeah, their addiction has been really hard on me for my whole life and it still is.” (18:49)

• Using Struggle for Good
  Strings feels a duty to use his experiences to help others—possibly, someday, through rehabilitation work:

  “Maybe I’ll be able to help kids that are in the situation that I was in ... or open a rehab or something like that.” (21:37)

• Fatherhood and Continuing the Tradition
  He’s teaching his son guitar, just as his father taught him, and treasures singing lullabies to him:

  “Probably the best moment of my entire life—besides maybe just the moment he was born.” (29:09)

Notable Live Performances & Timestamps

• Nashville Blues (“Live at the Legion”): (04:24)
• Browns Ferry Blues (classic Doc Watson/Delmore Brothers number): (09:22)
• I Believe in You (on loss, grief, and recovery): (14:49)
• Beaumont Rag (demonstration of his earliest rhythm playing): (22:47)
• Nothing To It (reflecting returning to bluegrass roots): (27:27)
• Personal Lullaby for His Son: (29:45)
• Cold, Cold World (Blaze Foley cover, closing the conversation): (31:00)

Memorable Quotes

• “You know, that's one big thing that one of my vocal coaches...was just give me the information. I get on stage and I sing and I’m so worried about the pitch... It's like taking the kids to the park and you're scared to let them go down the slide because you don’t want them to get hurt. It’s like, geez, let them play, you know?” (06:34)
• “The only reason [my mom] died is so she could, you know, space travel and be there...She was at all the shows...She was really living her best life in this last little bit.” (16:38)
• "I gotta talk about it, because it’s like my whole life I’ve had to keep a secret in order to try to not make them look bad." (19:54)
• "So I think my duty here is to continue doing what I’m doing...use all that beautiful energy that I get from her, that crazy wild streak." (21:37)
• “I remember moving back to Iceland when I was 8 or 9...it felt like the world fell dark for a little bit because there was so much brightness in Washington.” (45:20)

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Segment 2: Laufey — Crossing Genres, Blurring Boundaries

Interview by: Terry Gross
Segment Begins: 34:02

Key Themes & Discussion Points

• Genre-defying Artistic Identity
  Laufey’s music, embracing classical, jazz, and pop, echoes her multicultural background:

  “I’ve never viewed myself as anything other than a modern artist, but I’ve always, of course, loved classical music and jazz music and had a love for all things a bit older.” (37:09)

• Upbringing in an Exceptionally Musical Family
  Her mother, a violinist, instilled discipline and passion:

  “My mom has been in the orchestra for almost 30 years and she still practices every single day for every single concert. It’s not something you shelve after you grow up.” (38:26)

• Daily Discipline and Musical Training
  Laufey describes practicing with her twin, overseen by their mother:

  “I would practice piano while my sister was practicing violin. Then we would swap...My mom spent the entire afternoon just drifting back and forth...It was very disciplined. But I’m so thankful for that.” (39:55)

• Jazz Influences and Discovery
  Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, and the greats taught her about vocal style:

  “Ella Fitzgerald was the very first singer that I really felt that I vocally resonated with. I think she just sounded like a cello. So I immediately was like, oh, I want to sound like her.” (40:38)

• Multicultural Childhood (Iceland, DC, China)
  Discusses feeling “other” in Iceland, and broadened perspective in Washington, DC:

  “It was very hard as a kid to comprehend why I didn’t look like everyone else or how my interests were different...I was ready to do anything to get my voice to be heard.” (46:35)
  “Even within just my neighborhood school [in DC], I think 90% of my class was international kids. And I was such a naturally multicultural kid.” (44:50)

• Social Media and COVID-Era Breakthrough
  Laufey’s first viral jazz cover posted from home at the pandemic’s start:

  “It started with a lot of jazz standards, and I was playing the jazz standards on cello and singing along...They kind of definitely were the first things that I think people were like, what? Why is this girl, this young woman, playing cello and singing?” (41:51)

• Songwriting on Friendship, Heartbreak, and Love
  “Castle in Hollywood” inspired by a friendship breakup:

  “I found that there are not many songs about breaking up with a friend, but it’s a pain that can sometimes be more painful than breaking up with a romantic lover.” (47:31)

Notable Live Performances & Timestamps

• Clockwork (upbeat, jazz-inflected love song): (35:44)
• It Could Happen To You (jazz standard, live for Fresh Air): (41:46)
• Castle in Hollywood (about friendship loss): (48:03)
• Valentine (original, sweet and swingy): (50:29)
• Excerpt of Bet You Think You’re So Poetic: (51:54)

Memorable Quotes

• “It was like having a teacher every single day...and my mom still tells me if I’m playing out of tune. I think it’s one of the reasons I’m the musician I am today.” (39:55)
• “Ella’s range, though more and bigger than mine, still, her singing style, I seem to fall most naturally into that kind of style.” (40:38)
• “It was definitely a little scary. It was very dark, but my bedroom was circular. It was inside a turret, and I had a tiny little window with bars on it, like a proper Rapunzel window. And yeah, it was a really, really weird apartment, but so charming and exactly what my storybook heart craved when I first moved to LA.” (49:34)
• On writing about friendship breakups: “It’s kind of like, I’ll love you forever but just not—don’t be around me.” (47:31)

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Timestamps for Major Segments

• Billy Strings Interview: 00:50 – 33:56
  • Early musical history and Doc Watson: 05:33
  • Dealing with anxiety and trauma: 07:54 – 19:54
  • Reflections on his mother’s life and death: 16:38 – 19:50
  • Guitar demo ("Beaumont Rag") and family influences: 22:36 – 23:14
  • Return to bluegrass roots ("Rank Stranger" moment): 26:29
  • Lullaby for his son: 29:45
• Laufey Interview: 34:02 – 51:49
  • Discussing Lollapalooza and musical identity: 37:09
  • Family musical discipline & upbringing: 38:26 – 39:55
  • Jazz inspiration: 40:38
  • Multicultural childhood: 44:50
  • “Castle in Hollywood” and friendship: 47:31
  • “Valentine” and young adult love: 50:29

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Takeaways

• Billy Strings offers an unflinching look at how hardship and trauma fuel creativity, poignantly blending personal loss and musical tradition.
• Laufey embodies the possibility of drawing from multiple worlds—geographically, culturally, and musically—to create something vibrant and new, connecting young audiences to the timelessness of jazz and classical forms.
• Both artists display deft musicianship, emotional candor, and a reverence for the past that shapes their boundary-crossing work.

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Transcript

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[Sam Briger]

From WHYY in Philadelphia, this is FRESH AIR weekend. I'm Sam Brigger.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Well, folks, I want to tell you about a traveling man. His home was down in Tennessee.

[Sam Briger]

Today we continue our series highlighting some of our favorite interviews of the year with singer, songwriter and guitarist Billy Strings. Strings is one of the rare bluegrass musicians who can fill arenas with tens of thousands of fans. He's been working to get to where he is for a long time.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

By the time I could play guitar, you know, five, six years old, I was learning those tunes. I might have been able to play some of them before I knew how to tie my shoes or something. You know, it was like I was learning how to speak and talk and walk and I was learning all these Doc Watson tunes at the same time, and it was just like religion.

[Sam Briger]

Also, we hear an excerpt of Terry's interview with classical cellist and pop star Levy.

[Levi (singing)]

But who think you're so poetic?

[Sam Briger]

That's coming up on FRESH AIR weekends.

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[Sam Briger]

Is FRESH AIR WEEKEND. I'm Sam Brigger. If you ever find yourself at an arena concert where tens of thousands of fans of all ages are stomping about to the Bill Monroe tune Roanoke or the classic bluegrass song Old Slue Foot, chances are you're at a Billy Strings show. A singer, songwriter and guitarist, Billy Strings is one of the younger generation of musicians carrying the torch for traditional acoustic bluegrass, even while his music incorporates excursions into exploratory improvisational jams and the occasional heavy metal guitar riff. And he's been celebrated by both audiences and the music industry. He's won two Grammys. And Highway Prayers, released in 2024, is the first bluegrass album in over 20 years to reach number one on Billboard's All Genre Top 100 album sales chart. That album showcases his songwriting and his terrific band. Since then, he's released a live album with another ace bluegrass guitarist Brian Sutton Called Live at the Legion, the duo performed in a more intimate setting than the arena Strings usually plays in these days, the American Legion, Post 82 in East Nashville. Playing a lot of music associated with Doc Watson, let's hear the leadoff track from Live at the Legion, Nashville Blues, originally by the Delmore Brothers.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

I've got the blues those Nashville blues I've got the blues those Nashville blues Ain't got no hat, ain't got no shoes these people here, they treat me fine these people here they treat me fine well, they feed me beer and they feed me wine and I've got the blues those Nashville blues I've got the blues those Nashville blues I ain't got no hair I ain't got no shoes.

[Sam Briger]

That's Billy Strings and Brian Sutton on the new album Live at the Legion. Billy Strings, welcome to FRESH air.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Hey, thank you so much. Good to be here.

[Sam Briger]

A lot of this material comes from Doc Watson. Like, some of these songs are songs that are part of his repertoire. And you said that most everything you do comes from Doc Watson. Can you talk about his influence on you?

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Yeah, he's like the ground upon which I stand. You know, my dad played his music all around the house growing up, and by the time I could play guitar, you know, five, six years old, I was learning those tunes, too. I might have been able to play some of them before I knew how to tie my shoes or something. You know, it was like I was learning how to speak and talk and walk, and I was learning all these Doc Watson tunes at the same time, and it was just like a religion in my house. You know, his music is just. It's the best. I mean, that's what I was listening to on the way over here. The sonic journals, the owsley thing that he recorded. It's just these beautiful recordings. And gosh, it was so good. Everything they were playing was just churning.

[Sam Briger]

I can hear some of his guitar playing in your playing. But what about his singing? Was that also influential? Like, he didn't have a big range, but he was expressive and he is singing. I always think of it as very crisp.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

I mean, I think his range was really kind of something to behold when you think about it. He had this great low baritone, and he could also yodel and get up into that really high falsetto and, you know, but. But with Doc, it was always just spoken. It was always the information of the song came through and the conversation of it. You know, people like him, people like Willie Nelson, people like Dolly Parton, these really great storytellers when they're singing. You know, if you see Dolly Parton on TV singing and you press mute, it just looks like she's talking to you, because she is. She's telling the story. You know, that's one big thing that one of my vocal coaches that I've been working with. One of the big things that I took from some of those lessons was just give me the information. You know, I get on stage and I sing and I'm so worried about the pitch. Am I singing good? Is the tone good? Am I singing right? How's my timing this and that? It's like taking the kids to the park and you're scared to let them go down the slide because you don't want them to get hurt. It's like, geez, let them play, you know? And so if you focus on the story and telling the words and, you know, it's just like, I know where the pitch is. I just need to tell the story.

[Sam Briger]

So you're doing that more trying to.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

It's easier said than done. All this stuff, you know, all the music, kind of Zen, kind of mindful stuff that I've been getting into, it's kind of the inner game, inner game stuff, you know, I mean, I'm high strung. I got a lot of anxiety and stress, and I'm moving around a lot. I've been really busy the last several years, and I got a lot of my own personal stuff that just haunts me on a daily basis. And I try to do everything I can to just be cool and get my nervous system to chill, but it just seems like I don't know what I can do to. To calm it, you know, I do the best I can and I'm doing okay, but it's a daily kind of struggle to just stay on the ground.

[Sam Briger]

Does playing guitar help, or is playing guitar caught up in all of that stuff? Because that's what you do for a living.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

It depends on what kind of playing guitar. You know, If I'm on stage, that's where the joy is, you know, that's where the, where the fun is. If I'm. I kind of ride myself pretty hard about practice offstage.

[Sam Briger]

Well, Billy, if you wouldn't mind doing another song for us, that's one of.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Your favorites I could do. Told you on the way over here, I was listening to that Bears Sonic Journals, Doc & Merle T. Michael and man, they were sounding good and they were doing this number here. It's called the Browns Ferry.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Blues. Hard luck popcorn on a lane Mama giving back his walking cane. Lord, Lord, I got them browns.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Fairy.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Blues Went to town to see a little woman and now he's down. Oh Lord, I got them brown Spring. Hard but puff, you're getting too tight. You don't be drinking your highest kind. Lord, Lord, I got them browns terribly drink a block and tackle kind you can walk a block and tackle a lion. Lord, Lord, I got them browns fairy blue. Well, I walked up to my girl's old man and I asked him for my true love's hand. Lord, Lord, I got them browns fairy blues Said you love our little Kalu out of her hand I got his foot. Oh Lord, I got them browns fair blue. Hard luck puffs den him in the rain. The hoard was corn, you couldn't buy grain. Lord, Lord, I got them browns fairy blues Walk around and sit him in close Smell of his feet forever he goes Lord, Lord, I got them browns fairy blue.

[Sam Briger]

Foreign. That's Billy Strings playing Doc Watson. He'll be back after a short break. This is FRESH AIR.

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[Sam Briger]

Today. This is FRESH AIR Weekend. I'm Sam Brieger. Our guest today is singer, songwriter and guitarist Billy Strings. He has two recent albums. Highway Prayers is a collection of his original songs which he plays with his long standing bluegrass band. And Live at the Legion, a bluegrass guitar duo album of more traditional songs with Brian Sutton. Well, Billy, some of your songs deal with some pretty heavy subjects that you've dealt with in your life, including, you know, losing friends to suicide, family and friends who are dealing with addiction, you know, feeling neglect when you were a kid. When you write songs about that stuff, is it helping you process those experiences? Is it easy to sing about that stuff once you've written the.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Songs? Sometimes it's hard, sometimes it is. Definitely that's how I felt when I sang on stage the night my mom died. It was cathartic. I've had songs that I've written about something totally different that I didn't realize I wrote for myself until months later. I write these words thinking that I'm giving some information to some people that might could hear it. Really, I'm the one that needs to hear it. And I wrote that for myself so that I could heal. And now I go sing it on stage. And there's also been songs Stratosphere Blues and I Believe in youn. The other night I was singing that on stage and, you know, like I said, I wrote that before my mom had died. And now singing it after is just different. It's like I knew something or.

[Sam Briger]

Something, you know, I'm sorry about your mom passing away. She died this last June. Would you mind singing a verse of.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

That? I could.

[Terry Gross]

Try.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

See. Couldn't help but wonder why you threw yourself away Come on out from under and just take it day by day it's true I believe in you. Took a walk to wonder and I wandered on a thought it's kind of hard to get through all the things we ain't been taught it's.

[Sam Briger]

True.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

But I believe in.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

You. After all the years of.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Medication.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Feels good to get your life on track Long as you live. I'm sorry to tell you. You never get that monkey off your.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Back. Yeah, something like that anyways, you.

[Sam Briger]

Know. Yeah. That's a beautiful song. Thank you for playing that, Billy. When Your mom died, I think you heard in the morning and you had a gig that night, you decided to play it. You got on stage and you made a, you know, obviously emotional announcement about it. And you said that your mom would have wanted you to go on, she wouldn't wanted you to cancel the show. Why is.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

That? The only reason she died is so she could, you know, space travel and be there she was at all the shows, you know, she was always in the mix right up front. She'd show up in New Orleans or Seattle or somewhere and I wouldn't even know she was coming. She freaking hitchhiked there. You know, I was like, what? She walks in my green room, what the hell? You didn't even tell me you were coming. You know, she was just a wild one and she was really living her best life in this last little bit. She had become quite involved with a lot of my friends and fans, you know, that go to every show and go out in the lot and stuff. And she became really close to a lot of these people. And I was always had mixed feelings about.

[Sam Briger]

That. What do you.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Mean? Well, I wanted her to go have fun and be doing, you know, whatever she wanted to be doing. But I worried about her running into the wrong people or, you know, she's been an addict my whole life and had short stints where she was doing pretty good, you know. And I love to see her out there hanging with all the fans. But at the same time, I was leery of them. You know, I would go over to visit my parents house and there would be like the fans there that I see in the front row of my concerts all the.

[Sam Briger]

Time. People you knew or did it or just knew as.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Fans. Mostly I just recognize them from the crowd, you know, and then I get to know them because they're hanging out with my parents or something. But, you know, and who, what am I supposed to say? Like, don't do that. I don't know, they're grown people, but I don't know. She was getting older and I kind of just had this vision of her in my head that I wanted, which is stupid. It's not realistic to try to come up with somebody else's life in your brain. But like I just wanted her to have a garden and my dad, 70 years old, she was 64. I was like, man, you guys should like be settling down, you know, don't you think? Instead of raring and tearing and going and eating all these shrooms and going to all these concerts. And then she did get wrapped up in the wrong stuff. And that's why she's not here.

[Sam Briger]

Anymore. I'm sorry, this might be too personal, but. Did she overdose? Is that. Yeah, I'm.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Sorry. Yeah. And it's, you know, it's. It's messed with me my whole life and now it's going to mess with me for the rest of it. You know, I have complex post traumatic stress and I have anxiety and depression and I have for years tried to deal with this stuff just that happened to me when I was a kid. You know, it wasn't just being neglected and there not being food in the house and, you know, my parents being strung out and I miss them even though they're sitting right in front of me while they were partying and, you know, stuff like that. I was around the corner being molested, you know, before I was 10 years old and all that stuff, you know, and it's. It's a really hard thing because there's such beautiful people and they taught me so much about music. But yeah, their addiction has been really hard on me for my whole life and it still is. And really triggering to lose her in this manner, you know, I'm.

[Sam Briger]

Sorry. I hope talking about it is not triggering any hard feelings for you right.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Now. I gotta talk about it because it's like my whole life I've had to keep a secret in order to try to not make them look bad. You know, like, even when I was in high school, I spoke to a counselor one time. I mean, I was in 10th grade, but I was couch surfing. I didn't live with them. You know, I moved out when I was like 13 because the house was no longer a home. They were strung out and it's a wonder I was even going to school. And one time I got pulled into a counselor instead of the principal's office, you know, and. And they said, what's going on? You know, and I finally just. They told me anything I say is between them and it won't leave the room. And I said, yeah, my parents are on meth and I don't even live there. And my house got raided right after that, you know, that same day, five state cops came up, raided the house. I almost sent my mom to prison because I opened my mouth. And from then on, I never said to anybody about anything. I've just. It hurts me. But what hurts me is I've always just been worried about them, you know, and I've always wanted them to be good. And when I say be good, I mean to be well and Happy and have some sunshine in their life. You know, a few years ago, I was able to buy them a home. My parents and stuff was good for a while, but it just. Yeah, it really breaks my heart that it went back to this, and now she's gone. And so I think my duty here is to continue doing what I'm doing. For one thing, use all that beautiful energy that I get from her, that crazy wild streak. I got to use that and, you know, honor her in that way. And I feel a great kind of duty as far as just writing down these words, making these songs for people to heal from. And also, you know, who knows, maybe someday I'll actually be able to help kids that are in the situation that I was in. Maybe I'll be able to help their parents, you know, like open a rehab or something or something like that to. Just. To help combat this, because it's. It's really hard, you.

[Sam Briger]

Know? Yeah. Are you taking some time for yourself right now? Like, are you. Are you able to take some time off the road? And you have a young family now that's also. That's at.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Home? Yeah, they're with me on the.

[Sam Briger]

Road. Oh, they go with you on the.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Road? Heck, yeah.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Man. So. So, yeah, I got the whole gang, and we're out there traveling, and it's really.

[Sam Briger]

Cool. Earlier, we talked about Doc Watson, and I wanted to ask if you'd play a tune that maybe was one of the earlier songs that you learned as a.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Kid. Yeah, when I was a kid, I mostly just played rhythm, so I'll give an example of that. My dad, he would play.

[Sam Briger]

This. You know, that's the fiddle tune. Beaumont.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Rag. Yeah. And so I would play, You know, and so that's how I started, and that's kind of what I did for the first few years of playing. I was my dad's rhythm player, and that gave me a chance to just listen to how the songs worked, to just kind of stay there in the bass kind of notes and listen to the melodies and listen to the harmonies, how the vocals work together. And that kind of bluegrass harmony just seeped into my ears, I guess. And later on, I got an electric guitar, a little mini Squire Strat, and a pig nose amp for Christmas one year, I think I was probably 9 or 10 or so, and that was my first time really trying to play solos and stuff like that. But it was more. I was getting into Hendrix and I was playing more, you know, guitar center stuff. When I got into middle school, I wanted to play with people that Were my age. You know, I'd always played with my dad and his friends, and some of them were much older. And I just wanted to play music with people that were into the same stuff as I was, like skateboarding and video games, whatever, you know. And so the only thing that was really going on in my middle school at the time was heavy metal. And I went to a couple shows and I just. I hated it at first. It was like, this is not music. You know, I don't know what this is, but it ain't music. But I just fell into that friend group and then next thing you know, I started. I acquired a taste for this music and then I fell in love with it. But after my bands kept breaking up and falling apart, I kind of got back into Doc Watson at this time and just bluegrass in general. This would have been around the time that stuff was really rough around the house. I remember specifically stealing my mom's old chevelle one.

[Sam Briger]

Day. How old were.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

You? 14, 15, you know, because I'd go over to my parents house and hang out with them and stay there and party. And it's not like I just totally left and disowned them. I just. Once I realized stuff wasn't gonna change, I mean, I didn't end up really moving back there, but I'd go there for a weekend and hung out there a bunch. But I didn't. Wasn't like my home. And so, yeah, I stole my mom's car one day when I was just sitting around getting drunk by myself. And that's how bored I was. And that's how kind of there was nothing to do in this town. I mean, there's 600 people that live here. There's nothing to do. So I was just getting drunk during the day and I stole mom's car and I went down Hayes Road, this old country road with corn fields on either side. And man, I put the pedal to the floor and I just. I was going. And that corn was just a blur on either side. And there was a tape sticking halfway out of the deck and I pushed it in and I'm like, I wonder what my mom's listening to, right? And then this is what came on. I was in those heavy metal bands and all this stuff, and I hadn't really been listening to bluegrass very much, But I was kind of heartbroken at the way my life was at the time. And when I.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Heard, I wandered again to my home in the.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Mountain. You know, ranked stranger came on. That's what my mom had in her tape deck. And I just started slowing that old car down until I came to a complete stop. And I just pulled over on the side of the road, and I started crying. And I was drunk, you know? But this song hit me right in my heart. In that moment, I was like, what am I even doing in these heavy metal bands? Bluegrass is where my heart is. This is the music I should be playing. And at that time, I just. I started hunting for an acoustic guitar, you know, and my friend Zach had one. And one of the first tunes I learned how to actually pick how to play the lead on and stuff is a thing called Nothing to it. It goes.

[Levi (singing)]

Like.

[Sam Briger]

Sam, Is that one of those licks that you're now tired of or you still like.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

It? I love it. I mean, yeah, it's still the best. I mean, any of that Doc Watson.

[Sam Briger]

Stuff. Your dad taught you how to play guitar. Have you picked out a guitar for your son yet? Do you plan to teach him the way your dad taught.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

You? Well, he's already got one that he just bangs on the floor. I gave him this. Martin Dreadnought Jr. Used to be my guitar. I just practice on the bus and stuff, and I took tape, and I covered up all the pokey parts where the strings are on top, and I wrapped them real good so he can't poke himself on that.

[Sam Briger]

Yeah. So when are you gonna start teaching him how to play the.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Strings? Oh, man. Like I said.

[Sam Briger]

He'S. He's already.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Gone. He's 10 months, and he's. He's just banging on it. But I sing for him all the time. It's always the best. I remember that first night when we got home, the night of my 32nd birthday. The first time I was able to be at home with my son. And I held him and I sang this little song. I'll sing a bit of it for you. He went to sleep in my arms when I was singing this to him. It's probably the best moment of my entire life. Besides maybe just the moment he was born. But there's this little.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Lullaby. Sa. Pretty baby sleeping. Close them pretty by.

[Levi (singing)]

Night. Listen while your daddy.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Sing, You know? And I sang that to him and he fell asleep. That was like, the.

[Sam Briger]

Best. Well, Billy Strings, I want to thank you so much for coming on Fresh Air.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Today. I thank you for having.

[Sam Briger]

Me. Billy Strings latest album is called Live at the.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

Legion. This is a one by the late great Blaze Foley. It's called Cold, Cold World. I've tried for a long time, but I think I can't.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Win I'd do it all better if I could do it again. Wherever I'm going is the same place I've been. Ain't it a cold, cold.

[Billy Strings (speaking)]

World. Outside it was hot but inside I was.

[Billy Strings (singing)]

Cold. The eyes of the young met the eyes of the old. And what they were thinking I'll never be told. Ain't it a cool cold world? Then an old lady has me about the new daylight time. I said it don't matter and she said, I don't mind. Then the bus driver said, you still owe me a.

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[Sam Briger]

Platforms. This is FRESH AIR Weekend. I'm Sam Brigger. Terry has our next interview. Here she.

[Terry Gross]

Is. My guest Levy is a singer, cellist, pianist, guitarist and songwriter, whose 2023 album Bewitched was the first album ever to top Billboard's jazz and traditional jazz charts in its first week of release. But is she a jazz artist? Only partially. Her 2023 album Bewitched won a Grammy for Best Traditional Pop Album and was named Crossover Album of the Year by Variety. Her music resembles her personal identity in that both are hard to categorize. Her songs draw on her deep knowledge of classical music and jazz, as well as from pop and classic musicals. She grew up in Reykjavik, ICELAND and Washington, D.C. with a mother who emigrated from China and is a violinist with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. Her father is from Iceland and Levi grew up listening to recordings from his jazz collection. She started piano lessons at age 4, cello lessons at age 8, and performed on cello with the Iceland Symphony Orchestra when she was 15. She describes her music as Taking inspiration from the past with lyrics firmly rooted in the present, her concerts are filled with listeners in their 20s who may not know or care much about jazz or classical music. Levy is 26. She started attracting an audience during the COVID lockdown when she began posting videos of her singing jazz standards and originals, accompanying herself on cello, guitar or piano. She brought her guitar with her today to play and sing some songs, including music from her new album, A Matter of Time. Let's start with a track called Clockwork. It's an upbeat love song with an obvious jazz influence. So here's.

[Levi (singing)]

Clockwork. Swore I'd never do this again Think that I'm so clever I could date a friend he just called me said he's running late like me he probably had to regurgitate. I know it's irrational at least I'm self aware I'm shivering maybe I'll stay home oh no, he's here. My hurt's a wild place I've considered every way Words I'll forget deeply regret he'll run away and nothing brings me fear like meeting with my destiny but like clockwork Pinky fell in love with.

[Terry Gross]

Me. Levi, welcome to FRESH air. It's a pleasure to have you on the show and thank you for bringing your guitar with you. We'll hear some music in a couple of minutes. You're so popular, especially among people in their 20s. Your first music festival was when you performed at Lollapalooza and you brought an orchestra with you. What insights does that offer about who you are and about your.

[Levi (speaking)]

Music? Well, thank you so much for having me. It's such a pleasure to be here. I mean, Lollapalooza was such a perfect moment for me of showing exactly who I am to the world because I, I mean, Lollapalooza is a music festival that I would say is for. For modern music and for young people. I've never viewed myself as anything other than a modern artist, but I've always, of course, loved classical music and jazz music and had a love for all things a bit older. So to get to bring an orchestra and that sound onto such a modern stage, I mean, we had a K pop act playing after us and a rapper before us on, on that very same stage. I think it's so beautiful that all of these different styles of music can exist in.

[Terry Gross]

One. And what does it say that you'd never been to a music.

[Levi (speaking)]

Festival? I mean, I'd been to Newport Jazz Festival, so that might answer your question, I guess. I mean, I grew up in Iceland. So I just wasn't very close to that. That culture. We had our own smaller.

[Terry Gross]

Festivals. But let's talk a little bit about your musical origin story. Your mother plays violin in the Iceland Symphony Orchestra. What did you learn about music from hearing her practice at.

[Levi (speaking)]

Home? I learned a couple of things. I think like, hard work is really, really important and it's something you need to keep up. I mean, my mom has been in the orchestra for almost 30 years and she still practices every single day for every single concert. It's not something you shelve after you grow up and. But it also has taught me that it's something that never really leaves you. Growing up in a musical family. I mean, my grandma's 80 something now and she still plays piano every single day just like as she did when she was seven. So it's taught me that it's kind of this thing that can follow you forever. But my mom always talked about especially like the beauty of music and how it has to come from your heart. And I think that's been such an important through line with, with my music, no matter what genre it's leaning.

[Terry Gross]

Towards. Did you grow up.

[Levi (speaking)]

Backstage? Oh, absolutely. I grew up on stage. I think I have stories of my mom playing some contemporary Icelandic composers. And it was really loud and every break she would like check her tummy like I have a twin sister. So the two of us were in there and she was like, are they still moving? Did we silence.

[Terry Gross]

Them? When you started taking music lessons, would your mother ever holler from another room, wrong.

[Levi (speaking)]

Note? Every single day? Really? Not from another room, the same.

[Terry Gross]

Room. Did that make you self conscious? Practicing with a pro with an ear shot all the.

[Levi (speaking)]

Time. It was like having a teacher every single day. I would practice piano while my sister was practicing violin. And then we would swap and she would practice piano and I would practice cello. And my mom spent the entire afternoon just drifting back and forth from the piano room to the string room to the piano room to the string room. And it was very disciplined. But I'm so thankful for that. And my mom still tells me if I'm playing out of tune, and I'm so thankful for her for that. And I think it's one of the reasons I'm the musician I am.

[Terry Gross]

Today. So you listened to a lot of jazz growing up because your father had a big jazz collection. What era or what songs or singers particularly influenced.

[Levi (speaking)]

You? I think Ella Fitzgerald was the. The very first singer that I really felt that I vocally resonated with. I think she Just sounded like a cello. So I immediately was like, oh, I want to sound like her. And I was having trouble finding songs in my range to sing. But Ella's range, though, more than bigger than mine. Still, my. The. Her singing style, I seem to fall most naturally into that kind of style. Same with Billie Holiday. And I also loved Nat King Cole and Julie London and Peggy Lee and Doris Day. It was kind of, you know, that type of era of mid century singing that I really was drawn.

[Terry Gross]

To. Would you play a standard for us that you particularly liked? Yeah. Do you want to do It Could Happen to.

[Levi (speaking)]

You?

[Terry Gross]

Yes. And let's mention here that this is one of the things that kind of put you on the map because you recorded this on your phone during COVID and I think it's the first and one of the first videos that you put out on.

[Levi (speaking)]

YouTube. Yes. Covid started and I had what I thought would be a two week break, so I thought I'd used that time to just post videos of myself singing online. And it started with a lot of jazz standards, and I was playing the jazz standards on cello and singing along. And yeah, I did a cover of It Could Happen to youo and also of the song I Wish youh Love. And the two of those kind of hit the Algorithm or whatever you say. They kind of definitely were the first things that I think people were like, what? Why is this girl, this young woman, playing cello and singing? It was like multiple things they hadn't seen combined.

[Terry Gross]

Together. Yeah. And Chet Baker has a great recording of.

[Levi (speaking)]

This. Yes. Yeah, that's my favorite Chet Baker album. The It Could Happen to you one.

[Terry Gross]

So. Okay. And this is.

[Levi (singing)]

Levy. Hide your heart from sight Lock.

[Levi (speaking)]

Your dreams.

[Levi (singing)]

At it could happen to you don't count stars or you might stumble Someone drops a sigh and down you tumble Keep an eye on spring rung when church bells ring it could happen to you All I did was wonder how your arms would be and it happened to.

[Terry Gross]

Me. Thank you. That was Leve singing and playing guitar, and she has a new album called Matter of Time. So you grew up in two extremes. You grew up in Iceland, but you also spent a lot of time in Washington, dc. What were you doing there? What was your family doing.

[Levi (speaking)]

There? My father was working for the Icelandic government there, but my mom would sub with the Baltimore Symphony when she was there. So I kind of got to be a little bit of an American kid for a bit, which I think having a childhood in America is really where I fell in love with a great American.

[Terry Gross]

Songbook. What Was your father doing in the.

[Levi (speaking)]

Government? He was working for the.

[Terry Gross]

Imf. The International Monetary Fund, yes. So two extremes like Iceland is like remote. It's a small country, it's very cold. Washington D.C. is one of the capitals of the world, not just the capital of the US and it's so busy. What was it like growing up in two pretty opposite worlds? It's certainly a lot warmer and swampier than certainly. Yeah, than Iceland.

[Levi (speaking)]

Yeah. I think it's one of the most important experiences that I've gone through. I had a very deep understanding of how big the world was from a very early age because I would still spend my summers in China. And the three are so, so, so, so different, I think from what I really Learned from Washington D.C. i think especially was just how multicultural it was. I mean, I went to a public school in D.C. and even within just my neighborhood school, I think 90% of my class was international kids. And I was such a naturally multicultural kid. It made me quite happy. I also loved all the museums and I remember going to the ballet at the Kennedy center and the symphony. And I just have very beautiful memories from growing up there. And like, I remember moving back to Iceland when I was 8 or 9. And I remember that it felt like the world fell dark for a little bit because there was so much brightness in Washington, which is sounds like a crazy thing to say right now, but I think it really just opened my eyes up to how very big the world is because Washington D.C. is also such a unique city within the United.

[Terry Gross]

States. Well, since you're half Chinese and half Icelandic and you grew up in Iceland, not a lot of Chinese people in Iceland. So being half Chinese was probably considered unusual, maybe even like quote exotic. But growing up in Washington, there's like lots of people from China and other Asian countries. So what was it like for you to be so unusual in such a homogenous place as.

[Levi (speaking)]

Iceland? It was really difficult, I think. Iceland is so small and it's lovely and I miss it every single day. But it was very hard as a kid to comprehend why I didn't look like everyone else or how my interests were different. There weren't many kids around me taking a competitive pre professional classical music route. There weren't many kids around me who's who had to go back home and practice every single day. And I often felt like my voice wasn't being heard. And I was ready to do anything to get my voice to be heard. And I knew that the first step to that was trying to get out of Iceland. And see if perhaps my voice would resonate more in the big world where I wasn't an odd.

[Terry Gross]

Fish. I want to ask you to do another song for us. And this is Castle in Hollywood. Would you give us the backstory for the.

[Levi (speaking)]

Song? Yeah. This song is written about a friendship breakup. I found that there are not many songs about breaking up with a friend, but it's a pain that can sometimes be more painful than breaking up with a romantic lover. So I wanted to write about this experience that I had. And I think especially when women fall apart with women, there's such an interesting line of empathy that's between them. It's kind of like, I'll love you forever but just not don't be around.

[Levi (singing)]

Me. I rack my brain Spend hours and days I still can't figure it out what happened that year in your house still learning to live without you I wonder what you tell your friends which version of our fairy story the one where you walk out in glory or the night I moved out in a hurry I think about you always tied together with a string I thought the lilies died by winter Then they bloomed again in spring It's a heartbreak Mark the end of my girlhood we'll never go back to that castle in.

[Terry Gross]

Hollywood. Thank you. That was Levi performing for us. And what was the castle in Hollywood? Was that a fantasy of what you wanted your life to.

[Levi (speaking)]

Be? No, I lived in. The first apartment I moved into was this English storybook house in West Hollywood that had a turret, and it was commissioned by Charlie chaplin, actually. In 1928, I.

[Terry Gross]

Believe. Wait, wait. The first apartment that you rented was one that Charlie Chaplin commissioned? How did that.

[Levi (speaking)]

Happen? Yeah, pure Internet luck, I think. It was definitely a little scary. It was very dark, but my bedroom was circular. It was inside a turret, and I had a tiny little window with bars on it, like a proper Rapunzel window. And, yeah, it was a really, really weird apartment, but so charming and exactly what my storybook heart craved when I first moved to.

[Terry Gross]

La. Since you have a jazz set in the middle of your concerts now, when you're on tour, I'm going to ask you to play a jazz original that you wrote. And this is one of your early songs. It's called.

[Levi (speaking)]

Valentine. I've been playing a much more swingy version of this on tour, so it's going to be weird to go back to this version. But this is how I wrote it, so it is how it shall be.

[Levi (singing)]

Performed. I've rejected affection for years and years Now I have it and damn it, it's kind of weird he tells me I'm pretty Don't know how to respond I tell him that he's pretty too Can I say that? Don't have a clue Every passing moment I surprise, surprise myself I'm scared of flies I'm scared of guys Someone please help Cause I think I've fallen in love this time I blinked and suddenly I had a.

[Terry Gross]

Valentine That's a nice.

[Levi (speaking)]

Song. It's sweet. It's very naive. It reminds me of being 21.

[Terry Gross]

Falling in love for the first.

[Levi (speaking)]

Time.

[Terry Gross]

Yes. Well, Levi, I want to thank you so much for talking with us and for doing some songs for us. Thank you so much. I wish you well on your tour. And, you know, thank.

[Levi (speaking)]

You. Thank you so much for having me. It's been such an.

[Terry Gross]

Honor. Oh, my.

[Sam Briger]

Pleasure. Levi's new album is A Matter of Time. She spoke with Terry.

[Levi (singing)]

Gross. Bet you think you're so poetic, quoting epics and ancient.

[Sam Briger]

Prose. Fresh AIR Weekend is produced by Teresa Madden. Fresh Air's executive producer is Danny Miller. Our technical director and engineer is Audrey Bentham. For Terry Gross and Tanya Moseley, I'm Sam.

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