Billy Strings and RedOctane Games have teamed up to create Banjo Hero, a new music rhythm game that lets players live out their bluegrass dreams.
Choose between Trad and Jamgrass Mode to start your journey from front-porch picker to arena-grass star, and unlock songs from your favorite bluegrass artists along the way. The setlist draws from the full sweep of the genre: classic cuts from Bill Monroe, the Stanley Brothers, and Earl Scruggs sit alongside modern heavyweights like Béla Fleck, Molly Tuttle, Sierra Hull, Greensky Bluegrass, Yonder Mountain String Band, and—of course—Billy Strings himself.
Every game comes equipped with a banjo controller. Acoustic guitar, mandolin, fiddle, upright bass, and washboard controllers are sold separately. Players can customize their characters and virtual bandmates, or link multiple controllers to play with friends.
Billy Strings has helped raised the profile of bluegrass music significantly in recent years, selling out arena-sized around the country with electrifying live shows that blur the lines between his traditional roots and his far-reaching influences. With a new generation of music fans now learning about bluegrass via Billy and his meteoric rise, Banjo Hero presents an opportunity to bring bluegrass musicianship even further into alignment with the mainstream.
Per a press release from RedOctane, the idea for Banjo Hero came to Strings during a smoke break with Post Malone backstage at Bonnaroo 2024. While discussing their shared heavy metal roots and the ways in which their paths to success have splintered from that point, Malone reminded Strings that he only ever picked up an actual guitar when he mastered Expert Mode on Guitar Hero 2 and wanted to keep rocking.
Related: Guitar Hero Developers Announce ‘Stage Tour’, A New Rhythm Game Slated For 2026 Release
“The idea hit me mid-hit, I had a full-blown coughing attack,” Strings recalled of the moment. “By the time I stopped coughing, the only words I could say were ‘Banjo. Hero.’ I couldn’t stop picturing myself as a 12-year-old kid whipping the neck of a plastic banjo to the ceiling and ripping ‘Reuben’s Train’ with my Star Power activated. It was electric, man. If more kids got to experience that, there’s no telling how big bluegrass could get.”
What started as a high-dea quickly escalated, and it wasn’t long before Strings was in talks with Guitar Hero creator RedOctane to turn the game into a reality. “Billy Strings has already helped bring bluegrass to the masses,” said Simon Ebejer, Head of Studio at RedOctane Games. “When he reached out with the idea for Banjo Hero, we knew he was onto something. Just as Guitar Hero inspired a new generation to pick up instruments and start rocking, Banjo Hero is going to influence a new crop of pickers to start plucking. It’s going to blow Stage Tour out of the water.”
The game will also feature an online multiplayer mode allowing players to join virtual jam circles with strangers—though RedOctane notes that, per authentic bluegrass tradition, anyone who plays too loud or shows off will be politely but firmly asked to take it down a notch.
At Strings’ insistence, RedOctane is also exploring the possibility of adding a Training Mode that doesn’t actually train users how to play the game but rather presents a multi-part educational slideshow on the thematic resonance of trains in American music and folklore.
Banjo Hero is slated for release early next year.
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