For all his accomplishments since basically hoisting bluegrass on his shoulders and bringing it to a new generation, Billy Strings had one major item left on his to-do list: 

Make an album with his pops. 

Me / And / Dad takes care of that as Strings, the man who raised him up and taught him guitar, Terry Barber, and a band that includes Dobro master Jerry Douglas, fiddler Michael Cleveland and mandolinist Ronnie McCoury among others cover 14 tracks that Strings learned from Barber as a tot. 

Barber trades vocals with his son and plays the Martin guitar he’d once pawned and that Strings tracked down and repurchased. 

With the inclusion of studio chatter and shouts out to take solos and vocals Me / And / Dad has the feeling of a living-room session just for fun. But this is serious old-time music by the kid who’s dragging it into the future and the man who instilled it in him.