Billy Strings Will Release ‘So Much for Goodbyes’ in August
Billy Strings will release a new album, So Much for Goodbyes, on August 28 via Reprise Records. Along with the record’s announcement, Strings has also dropped the first single from the project, “Burn the Other End,” which he wrote with Greensky Bluegrass’ Paul Hoffman.
Produced by Strings and T Bone Burnett, the new 16-track set finds Strings “channeling a deeply personal period into his most musically mature and reflective body of work to date.” Strings’ mother, Debra Apostol, who passed way in 2025 due to an accidental overdose, is responsible for the album’s artwork. The guitarist released Billy Strings and Bryan Sutton: Live at the Legion in 2025 and the Jon Brion-produced Highway Prayers in 2024.
“I made this record to honor my mother,” Strings shares. “To notice and embrace this very significant period of grief in my life and make art from it. To turn my heartbreak into songs while using my guitar as a coping mechanism as I always have. It’s always been there for me to lean on through the hard times, and I figure it always will…until it’s my time to say goodbye.”
So Much For Goodbyes will be available on vinyl in black, wood grain and sun core variants, with all production completed in the U.S. The records were plated and pressed at Denver’s Paramount Pressing & Plating, founded by veteran engineer Gary Salstrom and David Rawlings, and cut for vinyl by Jeff Powell at Take Out Vinyl in Memphis, TN.
“I’m working on songs and a lot of them are about my mom. I’ve taken a lot of the poetry that she’s written and I’ve been organizing it. I haven’t really dove in yet, but I plan on it. The two of us always wanted to make songs from it,” Strings said in a Relix cover story last year. “She also made visual art, so I want to use some of her art as inspiration for this next record and try to honor her with this next batch of art that I’m working on. That’s where my head’s at anyway, and I think it will be a beautiful thing to honor her with it. So yeah, I’m kind of working on a record for Mama.”
As previously reported, Strings will return to the road following a skateboarding accident where he broke his leg later this week, including another appearance on the Austin City Limits program Thursday, July 2. The performance will be available to livestream via ACL TV’s YouTube and will air later this fall as part of Season 52.
Here’s a look at the new album’s tracks
1. I’m One of Those
2. Burn the Other End
3. Carry Us Home
4. Lay Me Down
5. Lucid Daydream
6. Mill Town Flood
7. Live to Tell
8. Bluewater Breakdown
9. Light the Wall
10. I Like Train Songs
11. 10,000 Miles From a Friend
12. Still I Crash
13. I Wish I Wanted To
14. Remember to Cry
15. Wrestling an Angel
16. Debra’s Waltz
Here’s a look at Billy Strings’ upcoming dates
July 2—Austin, TX—Austin City Limits at the Moody Theater
July 4—Austin, TX—Germania Insurance Amphitheater*
July 14—Roanoke, VA—Berglund Center
July 17—Portsmouth, VA—Portsmouth Pavilion
July 18—Portsmouth, VA—Portsmouth Pavilion
July 21—Boston, MA—Agganis Arena
July 22—Boston, MA—Agganis Arena
July 24—Portland, ME—Cross Insurance Arena
July 25—Portland, ME—Cross Insurance Arena
July 28—Hartford, CT—PeoplesBank Arena
July 31—Bethel, NY—Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
August 1—Bethel, NY—Bethel Woods Center for the Arts
August 4—Charleston, WV—Charleston Coliseum
August 6— Fishers, IN—Fishers Event Center
August 7—Fishers, IN—Fishers Event Center
August 8—Fishers, IN—Fishers Event Center
August 28—Ionia, MI—Ionia Freak Fair
August 29—Ionia, MI—Ionia Freak Fair
September 18—Denver, CO—Ball Arena
September 19—Denver, CO—Ball Arena
September 20—Denver, CO—Paramount Theatre
September 25—Los Angeles, CA—The Orpheum Theatre
September 26—Inglewood, CA—Kia Forum
September 28—San Diego, CA—Pechanga Arena
October 2—Oakland, CA—Oakland Arena
October 3—Oakland, CA—Oakland Arena
October 6—Eugene, OR—Matthew Knight Arena
October 9—Everett, WA—Angel of the Winds Arena
October 10—Everett, WA—Angel of the Winds Arena
October 23—Huntsville, AL—The Orion Amphitheater
October 24—Huntsville, AL—The Orion Amphitheater
October 30—Baltimore, MD—CFG Bank Arena
October 31—Baltimore, MD—CFG Bank Arena
December 4—New Orleans, LA—Saenger Theatre†
December 5—New Orleans, LA—Smoothie King Center
December 9—Sugar Land, TX—Smart Financial Centre
December 11—Fort Worth, TX—Dickies Arena
(*)Willie Nelson’s 4th of July Picnic
