Highway Prayers is the fourth studio album by American musician Billy Strings. It was released on September 27, 2024 via Reprise Records. Produced by Strings himself together with Jon Brion, the album peaked at number 22 on the Billboard 200, and at number 1 on the Top Album Sales chart, as well as number 1 on the Bluegrass Albums chart. The album won a Grammy Award for Best Bluegrass Album at the 68th Annual Grammy Awards held on February 1, 2026.
Critical reception
Highway Prayers was met with universal acclaim from music critics. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from mainstream publications, the album received an average score of 83, based on six reviews.
AllMusic's Timothy Monger praised the album, resuming: "Highway Prayers is too long -- there is a fantastic 40-minute album in there -- but it's also a lot of fun, and it may take a young superstar like Strings to bend and stretch bluegrass enough to deliver it to the masses". Will Hermes of Rolling Stone wrote: "an impressive 20-track album that recalls the days when old-timey hybrids like Old and In the Way and Will the Circle Be Unbroken sat proudly alongside country-rock classics like Workingman's Dead, Desperado, and Eat a Peach on American record shelves". Stephen Thomas Erlewine of Pitchfork stated: "he's finding new aural and emotional textures within a familiar genre. Those fresh sounds are married to the sturdiest set of songs Strings has written, with defined melodies distinguished by flashes of empathy and wit".
Track listing
Personnel Musicians Billy Strings – vocals, guitar, 12-string acoustic guitar, resonator guitar, EBow electric guitar, steel guitar, mandolin, banjo, bass, keyboard, percussion, shaker, whistle Billy Failing – banjo, backing vocals Royal Masat – bass, backing vocals Jarrod Walker – mandolin, mandocello, tenor guitar, backing vocals Alex Hargreaves – fiddle, mandolin
Additional musicians Jon Brion – bass, drums, percussion Jason Carter – fiddle Matt Chamberlain – drums Jerry Douglas – dobro Victor Furtado – banjo Cory Henry – piano Lindsay Lou – backing vocals Peter "Madcat" Ruth – harmonica, jaw harp Taneka Samone – backing vocals Nathaniel Smith – cello
Production Produced by Billy Strings and Jon Brion Additional production: Brandon Bell Engineering: Greg Koller, Brandon Bell, Gary Paczosa Engineering assistance: Chaz Saxon, Joe Caldwell, Jason Tobias, Skylar Chuckry Editing: Eric Caudieux Mixing: Greg Koller Mastering: Patricia Sullivan Photography: Dana Trippe Design, layout, concept: Billy Strings, Bill Orner
Charts Chart (2024) Peak position
References
External links