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The recent Center for Disease Control (CDC) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) had Church of Vaccine members’ heads exploding after the committee voted to remove the recommendation for the birth dose of Hepatitis B (Hep B) vaccine and shift the first dose to two-month-old babies. Mind you, this vaccine lacked a placebo-controlled group in …

A holly jolly bluegrass Christmas. Billy Strings has wrapped up his tours for the year, rounding out his 2025 winter tour with some stellar shows in Texas. After laying it down in Austin’s Moody Arena, he performed for a smaller crowd, delivering an in-the-round style show at ACL Live. View this post on Instagram Billy officially has a break in touring until hitting the road again in February for two sold-out nights in Atlanta to kick off 2026. And when artists are back home enjoying time with their families, it gives us fans the perfect opportunity to revisit some of their older material. Billy Strings, who has been picking all of his life, has no shortage of that footage, leading us to a bluegrass holiday ditty that he laid down back in 2012. The early 2010s saw some of String’s most iconic at-home videos, long before he was in the limelight. The Michigan native, born William Apostol, quickly got the name Billy Strings for playing guitars nearly as big as he was with other great musicians. His stepfather, Terry Barber, played a massive role in Strings’ musical development. He taught Strings how to play and often sat in on the parties his dad would host in the trailer park where he grew up. As the parties never seemed to end, Strings was exposed to the dark reality of drug addiction in the community, including his parents. After seeing this, he moved out of the house at 13 to avoid falling into addiction. Once he moved out of the house, Strings started playing with metal bands. Although it was a short stint, it was fundamental to curating his version of bluegrass. Once Billy Strings was back in the bluegrass scene, when he was about 20 years old, a few of his videos from 2012, like his legendary “Dust In A Baggie” basement video, took off online and are still highly loved by fans, seeing how talented he was that early in his career. In the same year that the viral “Dust In A Baggie” video was filmed, Billy Strings shared another home video that never fails to put a bluegrass lover in the holiday spirit. In 2012, Strings sat in front of a video camera, shirtless with a Santa hat on, and flat-picked a stellar rendition of “Jingle Bell Rock.” The Christmas classic was originally recorded by Bobby Helms in 1957, and over the years, it has been covered by numerous artists. In Strings’ rendition of the song, he does not stray too far away from the original composition. Naturally, the music will sound different from the original recording, given it’s an acoustic cover rather than a full-band recording, yet while maintaining the integrity of the original, Strings finds a way to make it sound authentic to his style and picking. I could listen to Billy Strings perform Christmas tunes all day long. It’s always a swell time to play some Billy Strings, so turn this one all the way up. And just for fun, fire up the legendary “Dust In A Baggie” performance while you’re here: The post Watch Billy Strings Put A Bluegrass Twist On “Jingle Bell Rock” Way Back In 2012 first appeared on Whiskey Riff.

Simply chill-inducing. In a year full of breakouts across both the independent scene and the mainstream alike, ranging from the likes of Ella Langley and Zach Top to The Red Clay Strays and Treaty Oak Revival, Stephen Wilson Jr. has undoubtedly been one of the standouts throughout 2025. Of course, fans of the independent scene have been quite familiar with him over the past few years. After delivering his stellar debut on bon aqua EP, featuring the likes of “American Gothic” and “Year to Be Young 1994,” in June of 2023, Wilson Jr. made himself known in a big way just six months later with his mammoth, 22-track debut album, Søn of Dad. Simply put, the album was nothing short of a stunner, mixing elements of country, grunge, gothic folk, rock and more. It seems a bit lazy to describe an album as one that truly doesn’t sound like anything out there today, but Søn of Dad is just that. Bringing out elements of all the aforementioned genres and subgenres, the Indiana native delivered something truly unique, packing the album full of incredible tracks such as “I’m A Song,” “Grief is Only Love,” “Billy,” the title track and more. Recently, he put the entire public on notice of his talent when he was not only nominated for New Artist of the Year at the 59th CMA Awards but also took to the stage to deliver his stunning reimagining of Ben E. King’s 1961 classic, “Stand By Me.” Along with The Red Clay Strays, who also had a big night and introduced themselves to a wider audience with a killer performance of their current single, “People Hatin’,” it seemed like the “Cuckoo” singer had his “moment” at the CMAs. Fresh off the performance and nomination, today, Wilson Jr. was a guest on the always-entertaining This Past Weekend podcast, hosted by the one and only Theo Von. With his appearance on Von’s podcast, the 46-year-old singer/songwriter joins fellow country artists such as Luke Combs, Morgan Wallen, The Red Clay Strays, Post Malone, Lainey Wilson and Miranda Lambert, all of whom have made appearances over the past two years. In typical Theo Von fashion, the pair covered a lot of ground during the podcast, discussing everything from Wilson Jr.’s childhood growing up in southern Indiana, whether demon possession is real, the stunning fact that he helped develop Dentastix, the popular dog treat, and much, much more. Though the entirety of the podcast itself is WELL worth the watch, the standout moment easily came at the very end when the scientist-turned-singer delivered stunning acoustic performances of his newest single, “Gary,” as well as the aforementioned “Grief is Only Love.” Complete with a pedalboard and his signature, well-worn guitar, which is a hat-tip to the legendary Willie Nelson, Wilson Jr. turned Von’s podcast studio into a church for lack of better words. As mentioned previously, it truly feels like he’s doing something that isn’t being done in the genre today, and it’s showcased brilliantly here on This Past Weekend. In particular, it’s simply incredible to see him deliver these stunning, heavy tracks in contrast to Von’s studio, which is undoubtedly best known for a laundry list of hilarious moments over the years. Watch the full podcast below, and skip to the 2:18:00 mark to watch “Gary” and “Grief is Only Love.” Stephen Wilson Jr. Tour Dates January 27-1/31 – Key West, FL – Mile 0 Festival * February 17 –  Houston, TX – White Oak Music Hall February 26 – Tulsa, OK – BOK Center ^ February 27 – Fort Worth, TX – Dickies Arena ^ February 28 – Austin, TX – Moody Center ^ March 6 – Columbus, OH – KEMBA Live! # March 7 – Grand Rapids, MI – GLC Live at 20 Monroe # March 10 – Cleveland, OH – The Agora # March 11 – Detroit, MI – The Fillmore # March 14 – Toronto, ON – HISTORY # March 18 – Boston, MA – Citizens House of Blues # March 21 – Brooklyn, NY – Brooklyn Paramount # March 22 – Port Chester, NY – The Capitol Theatre # March 25 – Philadelphia, PA – The Fillmore # March 28 – Silver Spring, MD – The Fillmore # April 11 – Bossier City, LA – The Paradise Theater at Margaritaville Bossier City # April 15 – St. Louis, MO – The Pageant # April 17 – Kansas City, MO – The Midland Theatre # April 18 – Denver, CO – Mission Ballroom # April 22 – Omaha, NE – Steelhouse Omaha # April 22 – Madison, WI – The Sylvee # April 25 – Chicago, IL – The Salt Shed # June 6 – Lexington, KY – Railbird Music Festival * July 18 – Whitefish, MT – Under the Big Sky Festival * * – Festival # – Gary The Torch tour ^ – Supporting Eric ChurchThe post Stephen Wilson Jr. Delivers Haunting Acoustic Performance Of “Grief Is Only Love” On Theo Von’s Podcast first appeared on Whiskey Riff.