Billy Strings Honors Late Mother On Deeply Personal New Album ‘So Much For Goodbyes’

Billy Strings revealed his highly anticipated new album, So Much For Goodbyes, is set for release on August 28 via Reprise Records. Strings produced the 16-track record with T Bone Burnett and previewed the set with its lead single, “Burn The Other End.”

The Grammy-winning guitarist poured his grief from the tragic death of his mother Debra Apostol on June 20, 2025 into the songs on the follow-up to 2024’s Highway Prayers. “I made this record to honor my mother,” Strings explained. “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 contains Strings’ “most musically mature and reflective body of work to date,” note press materials heralding the album’s upcoming release. Previously, Billy called So Much For Goodbyes his “best album yet” before Burnett stoked anticipation with comments in a livestream with Ringo Starr.

“I’ve just finished a record with Billy Strings that I will say is a classic to everyone here,” Burnett shared during the April broadcast. “He’s a genius young musician.”

The Michigan-native initially planned to write songs based on poetry Debra wrote. While that project “just hasn’t panned out yet,” Strings adapted a painting his mother made into the cover art for So Much For Goodbyes. The album’s title has dual meanings, as Strings pointed out on Instagram:

This album came at a time in my life when I had a lot to write about. I had just lost my mother last June and still felt the talons of grief piercing my back. Before she passed, she and I had planned on trying to use some of her poetry to make songs from, but that just hasn’t panned out yet. A lot of her poetry is very stream-of-conscious, and I just couldn’t figure out how to put it to a tune. Maybe someday I will. Another dream we had was having her make art for the next record cover. She was an amazing artist and was constantly working on many different things. She would call me all the time and tell me about how she was painting this or gluing this thing to that to make some UFO alien battle with cowboys and fairies. All her pieces had a story. The piece we ended up using for the cover was the one she was working on the night she died. I believe her intention was to show it to me when it was finished to see if I would use it for the cover. Although I don’t believe she had the chance to complete it, I am so happy we were able to fulfill that dream. I never got to say goodbye to her. That’s why I wanted to call the album “So Much For Goodbyes.” When I mentioned it to my manager, his interpretation of it was different from mine. I was sad that I didn’t get to say goodbye, but when I told him the name of the album, he heard it from a different perspective. It’s not goodbye. She’s not gone. She’s very much still with me. So much for goodbyes.

Billy Strings’ spring tour, which was cut short after he broke his leg in a backstage skateboarding accident, saw him debut a slew of new originals. None of those songs seem to have made it onto So Much For Goodbyes. The album does include two songs Strings has performed in concert, “10,000 Miles From A Friend” and “I’m One Of Those,” which were each premiered in May of 2025.

Strings will take the stage for his first show since breaking his leg this Thursday, July 2, when he tapes an episode of Austin City Limits at Austin’s Moody Theater. The performance will be livestreamed for free via ACL’s YouTube. He’ll then perform at Willie Nelson's 4th of July Picnic before kicking off his summer tour on July 14 in Roanoke, Virginia.

Scroll below for a full list of dates, the So Much For Goodbyes tracklist and “Burn The Other End” video.

Billy Strings wrote “Burn The Other End” with Greensky Bluegrass' Paul Hoffman. Strings is joined on the track by the members of his band, with Burnett and Jack White among those contributing “Gang Vocals” to the intense song.

Watch the “Burn The Other End” video starring Billy Strings as “The Witness,” Chris Rumble as “The Boat Man” and Radegast as “The Guide”:

So Much For Goodbyes Tracklist

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