Full Cord joins Billy Strings for new singles with hectic summer touring schedule planned
“We just ended up hanging out and picking music and having a lot of fun anytime we could get together,” Full Cord bassist Todd Kirchner of Grand Haven says.
It’s apropos that West Michigan’s Full Cord would come “full circle” by recording two new singles with bluegrass powerhouse guitarist Billy Strings.
After all, band members have been jamming with the Ionia County-bred guitarist ever since William Apostol, aka Billy Strings, was a teenager.
The now 33-year-old musician has become the biggest name in bluegrass — a global superstar and the face of a genre that’s undergone a remarkable resurgence in recent years.
Yet he remains a humble, hometown picker who’s more than happy to reunite with Michigan musicians who helped hone his skills around festival campfires and during late-night jam sessions.
“We just ended up hanging out and picking music and having a lot of fun anytime we could get together,” Full Cord bassist Todd Kirchner of Grand Haven recalls of those past years. “Man, what a cool experience. It’s interesting because you still hear some of the tunes that Billy plays that my dad taught him.”
Earlier this year, the guitarist returned to Michigan from touring in Australia to join Full Cord at Glenn Brown’s recording studio in East Lansing, performing two tracks with the band, “Hubris Came to Town” and “How a Muse Gets By,” both written by mandolinist Brian Oberlin.
The first was released late last month. “How a Muse Gets By” will drop in early August, with plans for releasing the tracks on vinyl, along with special artwork-enhanced copies of the “double-side single” available exclusively at Billy Strings’ Ionia Freak Fair festival taking place Aug. 28-29 at the Ionia County Fairgrounds.
“Billy is incredible, man,” Oberlin recounted. “He showed up to the studio just burnt from the road … and he was up till 3 a.m. with his young child (but) it took him about 15 minutes and he was ready to go. Man, he’s a ripper and he just picked right up on it and got in the groove of it. He’s the consummate professional.”
In addition to performing at the Ionia Freak Fair, Full Cord — led by Kirchner, Oberlin and guitarist Eric Langejans — has a hectic schedule of shows and festival appearances in the coming weeks. The band plays the Pond Hill Farm in Harbor Springs on July 2, and Lake Ann Brewing in Lake Ann on July 3 and July 5.
The band also plays the Grand Haven Free Fridays series on Aug. 21.
Kirchner said the band was especially excited to play the Charlotte Bluegrass Festival, which wrapped up this weekend.
"It’s where Eric and I met before we started the band and got to picking,” Kirchner recalled. “It’s one of my favorite festivals to hang out and play music, and all of us kind of cut our teeth on that festival.”
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Added Langejans: “It’s kind of crazy, too. It was Billy’s first festival. … So it’s kind of got a special place in our hearts.”
— Find more Michigan news and festival/concert listings at LocalSpins.com. Email John Sinkevics at john@localspins.com.
