Billy Strings and His Band
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Source Audio's relationship with Billy Strings originated a few years back, when Matt Kobrenski our shipping manager started talking about an amazing bluegrass guitar player he had recently seen. A couple of emails later we were talking to Billy and his guitar tech about guitar effects pedals. Now, you might be saying to yourself, "wait a minute, bluegrass musicians don't use effects pedals," and most of the time you would be correct, but that is not the case with Billy and his band. These guys are bringing a completely reimagined version of bluegrass music, with deep respect and admiration for the musicians that came before them, but also a brave new idea of how to combine those traditions with some exciting new ideas.
So of course everyone loves the "idea" of bringing a new approach to bluegrass music, and Billy and the guys certainly do that, but if you know anything about bluegrass music, you know that it takes more than just an idea - you gotta be able to PLAY!!! And playing is what everyone in Billy's band does best. Check this clip from a 2019 performance at the Grande Ole Opry - pure fire!
So of course everyone loves the "idea" of bringing a new approach to bluegrass music, and Billy and the guys certainly do that, but if you know anything about bluegrass music, you know that it takes more than just an idea - you gotta be able to PLAY!!! And playing is what everyone in Billy's band does best. Check this clip from a 2019 performance at the Grande Ole Opry - pure fire!
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Over the years, Billy has used a few different Source Audio pedals. Originally he had the Nemesis Delay on his board. The photo below was taken during a visit we had with Billy back in 2019 at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The photo of the right is a more recent shot of Billy's more advanced Bob Bradshaw constructed rig. If you look closely you will see the Nemesis as well as the C4 Synth and the EQ2 Programmable Equalizer.
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Learn More About Source Audio Pedals Used by Billy Strings
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Jarrod Walker
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Jarrod Walker has been the mandolin player in the Billy Strings band since the very early days. The photo below of Jarrod's pedalboard was taken at our visit with the band before their performance at the Sinclair in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 2019. Jarrod was using the Spectrum Intelligent Filter for several years.
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Learn More About Source Audio Pedals Used by Jarrod Walker
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Royal Masat
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Ooooh, but wait... there's more. Our favorite Nashville picker is back with some KILLER chicken pickin' with the True Spring Reverb - our beloved spring reverb and tremolo all-in-one pedal. This video features a wonderful country swing intro with plenty of spring reverb drenched Tele twang! We couldn't have been more thrilled when we learned that Johnny was so taken with the True Spring Reverb that he decided to put together this wonderful demonstration video. Thanks, Johnny - you are the man!!!
Learn More About Source Audio Pedals Used by Jarrod Walker
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Billy Failing
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He's back! We all know the guy is a chicken pickin' master, but our good friend Johnny Hiland has absolutely no issues with diving into the myriad of exploratory delay engines in the tonally far-reaching Nemesis Delay. Some of our favorite moments in this video come when Johnny ventures down some of the Nemesis Delay's off-the-beaten-path effects like Degrade, Shifter, Helix, and Reverse. That said... when he rips into a smoking country/blues riff with some classic delays like Tape, Slapback, and Analog, we're reminded why he is one of Nashville's finest session guitar players.
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