A 28-year-old musician who grew up in Ionia County has been nominated for Best Bluegrass Album at the 63rd annual Grammy Awards, Fox 17 reports.

Billy Strings, who was born William Apostol in Muir, Mich. moved to Nashville, Tenn. in 2016

Strings started playing guitar when he was four and played in metal bands in high school. He's been playing about eight years professionally and pre-pandemic was performing around 200 shows a year.

He tells Fox 17 he was most excited to tell his dad, who taught him to play, about the Grammy nomination:

"Since my dad is the one that taught me how to play and stuff, it's just like he's always the one that I call when any kind of milestone happens. I just called dad to say, 'Hey dad, look. You taught me how to play guitar and look what I'm doing with it.'

Strings, who has been hailed as the future of Bluegrass, won new artist of the year and guitar player of the year at the International Bluegrass Music Awards in 2019.

He's nominated for his second album "Home", released on Rounder Records, which has reached No. 1 on the Billboard’s Heatseekers Albums and Bluegrass Albums charts.

Here's a selection from the Associated Press' review of the "Home":

The lightning fast fingers of Billy Strings have tapped him as the future of bluegrass music for a few years now. But it is his creative musical storytelling, paired with solid vocals on “Home” that should seal the deal, pleasing fans of the genre and creating some new ones.

Strings a... Michigan-born multi-instrumentalist, is the perfect blend of pure talent and pluck. He’s comfortable bringing his indie-rock influence into his latest release and weaves it well while fleshing out inventive tracks.

The Grammy ceremony is set for Sunday, Jan. 31, 2021.

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