Sturgill Simpson Thread

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rlipps
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by rlipps »

Awesome. I have been a big fan/patron of them for quite a while. Did you catch any of the shows they did with Street Fight, too? (Can’t recall if they were in Lexington with them or not)
I didn't get to catch that particular bill, can't remember if they played in Lexington.

305 Engine
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by 305 Engine »

Clams wrote:https://uproxx.com/indie/sturgill-simps ... fury-tour/

Steven Hyden's new interview with Sturgill. Really good. Fuck London, fuck all the thirsty bitches, and fuck the label!
He's not fucking wrong about London. Not the first time I've seen a dead show there where half the crowd seem to know fuck all about the artist.

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rlipps
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by rlipps »

Went to see Sturgill and Tyler at Rupp Arena this past Friday and I had a blast. Childers went on at promptly 7:30 and played until 8:45. He then addressed the crowd for a couple minutes, basically just talking about what an honor and a thrill it was for a Kentucky kid to play the state's most iconic venue, Rupp Arena. He then introduced Justin Lascek, a former Green Beret severely wounded in Afghanistan, who talked about the Special Forces Foundation. Sturgill then took the stage at 9:15 and played until 11:15 or so.

Tyler came out of the gate with 3 of his most popular songs, "All Your'n", "Feathered Indians" & "Whitehouse Road", so the crowd was into his set from the get-go. I enjoyed his set much more than the last time I saw him, and I was surprised at how well it translated to an arena setting. Sturgill came out and played Sound & Fury in its entirety, which has been customary on all tour stops so far. I loved it, but honestly, a lot of the fans were bummed out and I did see a few leaving early. After finishing that part of his set, the "scheduled self-sabotage" as he called it, he then proceeded to play for another 70-75 minutes. The second part of the set leaned heavily on Sailor's Guide and Metamodern, with only Some Days & I'd Have to Be Crazy getting played from High Top Mountain.

Overall, I loved Sturgill's set, he was smoking on the guitar all night and the band was excellent. He also talked about how playing Rupp was a highlight of his and you could tell both he and Tyler were incredibly honored to play Rupp, especially since both of them talked about how they cut their teeth playing in bars within walking distance from the venue. I saw some people online complaining because Sturgill didn't play "the hits" and had turned his back on country music. Obviously, these people hadn't really paid attention to anything he's done since his debut album, as every album has been a stylistic departure from the previous one.

This was the first arena show I'd been to in a while, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Hoping to make the tour closer in Louisville on May 24th.

chuckrh
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by chuckrh »

rlipps wrote:Went to see Sturgill and Tyler at Rupp Arena this past Friday and I had a blast. Childers went on at promptly 7:30 and played until 8:45. He then addressed the crowd for a couple minutes, basically just talking about what an honor and a thrill it was for a Kentucky kid to play the state's most iconic venue, Rupp Arena. He then introduced Justin Lascek, a former Green Beret severely wounded in Afghanistan, who talked about the Special Forces Foundation. Sturgill then took the stage at 9:15 and played until 11:15 or so.

Tyler came out of the gate with 3 of his most popular songs, "All Your'n", "Feathered Indians" & "Whitehouse Road", so the crowd was into his set from the get-go. I enjoyed his set much more than the last time I saw him, and I was surprised at how well it translated to an arena setting. Sturgill came out and played Sound & Fury in its entirety, which has been customary on all tour stops so far. I loved it, but honestly, a lot of the fans were bummed out and I did see a few leaving early. After finishing that part of his set, the "scheduled self-sabotage" as he called it, he then proceeded to play for another 70-75 minutes. The second part of the set leaned heavily on Sailor's Guide and Metamodern, with only Some Days & I'd Have to Be Crazy getting played from High Top Mountain.

Overall, I loved Sturgill's set, he was smoking on the guitar all night and the band was excellent. He also talked about how playing Rupp was a highlight of his and you could tell both he and Tyler were incredibly honored to play Rupp, especially since both of them talked about how they cut their teeth playing in bars within walking distance from the venue. I saw some people online complaining because Sturgill didn't play "the hits" and had turned his back on country music. Obviously, these people hadn't really paid attention to anything he's done since his debut album, as every album has been a stylistic departure from the previous one.

This was the first arena show I'd been to in a while, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Hoping to make the tour closer in Louisville on May 24th.
Thanks for the review. I'm scheduled to see him at a big show in early May in Washington state. We'll see where we are at that point. Things are a bit dicey around here right now.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Cole Younger »

rlipps wrote:Went to see Sturgill and Tyler at Rupp Arena this past Friday and I had a blast. Childers went on at promptly 7:30 and played until 8:45. He then addressed the crowd for a couple minutes, basically just talking about what an honor and a thrill it was for a Kentucky kid to play the state's most iconic venue, Rupp Arena. He then introduced Justin Lascek, a former Green Beret severely wounded in Afghanistan, who talked about the Special Forces Foundation. Sturgill then took the stage at 9:15 and played until 11:15 or so.

Tyler came out of the gate with 3 of his most popular songs, "All Your'n", "Feathered Indians" & "Whitehouse Road", so the crowd was into his set from the get-go. I enjoyed his set much more than the last time I saw him, and I was surprised at how well it translated to an arena setting. Sturgill came out and played Sound & Fury in its entirety, which has been customary on all tour stops so far. I loved it, but honestly, a lot of the fans were bummed out and I did see a few leaving early. After finishing that part of his set, the "scheduled self-sabotage" as he called it, he then proceeded to play for another 70-75 minutes. The second part of the set leaned heavily on Sailor's Guide and Metamodern, with only Some Days & I'd Have to Be Crazy getting played from High Top Mountain.

Overall, I loved Sturgill's set, he was smoking on the guitar all night and the band was excellent. He also talked about how playing Rupp was a highlight of his and you could tell both he and Tyler were incredibly honored to play Rupp, especially since both of them talked about how they cut their teeth playing in bars within walking distance from the venue. I saw some people online complaining because Sturgill didn't play "the hits" and had turned his back on country music. Obviously, these people hadn't really paid attention to anything he's done since his debut album, as every album has been a stylistic departure from the previous one.

This was the first arena show I'd been to in a while, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Hoping to make the tour closer in Louisville on May 24th.
From what I’ve been reading, people leaving early has been a common occurrence for the shows he has played so far on this tour. It’s too bad but I kind of get it. Not all music fans read interviews or listen to podcasts etc. Some of these folks probably don’t realize Sturgill is currently on this bit of exploration or some sort of Andy Kaufman style joke on part of his audience. I’m not a fan of his newest record so I’m not going to these shows. I still enjoy his other records a lot so I listen to those. After listening to him on that Trillbillies podcast I understand what’s going on a little bit better than I did but there were times even in that interview where he seemed to contradict himself. Oh well. It’s always interesting with him.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

chuckrh
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by chuckrh »

Looks like there are more postponed shows than were announced last week. I was supposed to see Sturgill on May 3 @ the Gorge in Washington. Just got notice from ticketmaster that the show has been postponed. No new date yet.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Flea »

Cole Younger wrote:
rlipps wrote:Went to see Sturgill and Tyler at Rupp Arena this past Friday and I had a blast. Childers went on at promptly 7:30 and played until 8:45. He then addressed the crowd for a couple minutes, basically just talking about what an honor and a thrill it was for a Kentucky kid to play the state's most iconic venue, Rupp Arena. He then introduced Justin Lascek, a former Green Beret severely wounded in Afghanistan, who talked about the Special Forces Foundation. Sturgill then took the stage at 9:15 and played until 11:15 or so.

Tyler came out of the gate with 3 of his most popular songs, "All Your'n", "Feathered Indians" & "Whitehouse Road", so the crowd was into his set from the get-go. I enjoyed his set much more than the last time I saw him, and I was surprised at how well it translated to an arena setting. Sturgill came out and played Sound & Fury in its entirety, which has been customary on all tour stops so far. I loved it, but honestly, a lot of the fans were bummed out and I did see a few leaving early. After finishing that part of his set, the "scheduled self-sabotage" as he called it, he then proceeded to play for another 70-75 minutes. The second part of the set leaned heavily on Sailor's Guide and Metamodern, with only Some Days & I'd Have to Be Crazy getting played from High Top Mountain.

Overall, I loved Sturgill's set, he was smoking on the guitar all night and the band was excellent. He also talked about how playing Rupp was a highlight of his and you could tell both he and Tyler were incredibly honored to play Rupp, especially since both of them talked about how they cut their teeth playing in bars within walking distance from the venue. I saw some people online complaining because Sturgill didn't play "the hits" and had turned his back on country music. Obviously, these people hadn't really paid attention to anything he's done since his debut album, as every album has been a stylistic departure from the previous one.

This was the first arena show I'd been to in a while, and I enjoyed it quite a bit. Hoping to make the tour closer in Louisville on May 24th.
From what I’ve been reading, people leaving early has been a common occurrence for the shows he has played so far on this tour. It’s too bad but I kind of get it. Not all music fans read interviews or listen to podcasts etc. Some of these folks probably don’t realize Sturgill is currently on this bit of exploration or some sort of Andy Kaufman style joke on part of his audience. I’m not a fan of his newest record so I’m not going to these shows. I still enjoy his other records a lot so I listen to those. After listening to him on that Trillbillies podcast I understand what’s going on a little bit better than I did but there were times even in that interview where he seemed to contradict himself. Oh well. It’s always interesting with him.
Have you seen the anime made to accompany Sound & Fury on Netfix? It's a lot of fun.
Now it's dark.

chuckrh
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by chuckrh »

TO THE FANS,

AS INCREDIBLY DISAPPOINTING AS IT IS TO ANNOUNCE, THE SOUND AND FURY 2020 TOUR IS OFFICIALLY CANCELLED. ALL REMAINING SHOWS WILL NOT BE RESCHEDULED TO ENSURE EVERYONE IS REFUNDED THEIR MONEY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE.

THERE WAS MUCH OPTIMISTIC DESIRE BEHIND THE SCENES TO RESCHEDULE POSTPONED DATES AND OFFER REFUNDS TO ANYONE WHO DESIRED OR COULD NOT ATTEND THE NEW DATE. HOWEVER NO ONE CAN ACCURATELY PREDICT WHEN IT MIGHT ACTUALLY BE POSSIBLE TO PERFORM THOSE SHOWS IN A SAFE AND RESPONSIBLE MANNER AND I PERSONALLY WOULD NOT FEEL GOOD ABOUT PUTTING THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE IN AN ARENA ANY TIME THIS YEAR.

I’D VERY MUCH LIKE TO PERSONALLY THANK ALL THE FANS, MY BAND & CREW, AND THE ENTIRE TYLER CHILDERS CAMP FOR THE LIMITED AMOUNT OF BEAUTIFUL TIME WE GOT TO SHARE TOGETHER ON THE ROAD THIS YEAR. I LOOK FORWARD TO GETTING MYSELF HEALTHY AND A BRIGHT FUTURE FULL OF NEW MUSIC TO PLAY FOR YOU WHEN WE CAN ALL BE TOGETHER AGAIN.

- STURGILL

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Sterling Bigmouth
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Sterling Bigmouth »

Man, this sucks. The first night in Nashville was the most excited I’ve been for a show since my first Homecoming a couple years ago. On the bright side, I’m glad it sounds like Sturgill did what he could to get people’s money back in their pockets.
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by walthers »

I woke up to the email this morning saying it was canceled. Not surprised but was still hoping for a reschedule. I had great seats but like stated above at least sturgill is doing what he can to get people their money back in a timely manner.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

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Cole Younger wrote:What little I remember about that is thinking Luke Bryan sounded like a dog with peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth, And Cole Swindell was like one of those little fish that swims around right under a shark and feeds on the scraps left over from whatever the shark eats. As drunk girls fawned all over Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell was there to tell the ones not getting much attention, “I sing too. Me and Luke are friends.”
:lol: :lol: :lol:

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by gordonlw »

in case y'all somehow missed it...

viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9477

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rlipps
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by rlipps »

According to his IG post, Sturgill is in the process of recording a bluegrass album.

https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2020/06/01/ ... ss-record/

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Mundane Mayhem »

rlipps wrote:
Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:15 pm
According to his IG post, Sturgill is in the process of recording a bluegrass album.

https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2020/06/01/ ... ss-record/
Watched his stream from the Ryman tonight. He’s recut his back catalog in a bluegrass style (“the way all the songs were written”) for release later this year. Two volumes. Awesome stuff.
All it takes is one wicked heart, a pile of money, and a chain of folks just doing their jobs

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by chuckrh »

hmmmm. i know i'm probably in the minority on this but i really hope if/when he resumes touring he doesn't ditch the sound & fury stuff. i really like that album a lot. i had 2nd row tickets for a big show at the gorge in washington & was really looking forward to it. good on him though for cancelling rather than postponing as it put an end to the refund question. i would've held on to the tickets but its nice to have a choice in the matter. the games the big promoters have been playing are beyond the pale. for instance, the drive-by truckers show that was supposed to be in july in seattle has been postponed for the second time. i got an email saying that. a day later, AEG sent an email saying the show was on. that since has been sorted out but there isn't a refund option because the date is now to be determined.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by bovine knievel »

Mundane Mayhem wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 3:05 am
rlipps wrote:
Mon Jun 01, 2020 6:15 pm
According to his IG post, Sturgill is in the process of recording a bluegrass album.

https://www.whiskeyriff.com/2020/06/01/ ... ss-record/
Watched his stream from the Ryman tonight. He’s recut his back catalog in a bluegrass style (“the way all the songs were written”) for release later this year. Two volumes. Awesome stuff.
That stream was smokin’! Sturgill comes full circle. Bringing the ‘grass
“Excited people get on daddy’s nerves.” - M. Cooley

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Iowan »

chuckrh wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 5:50 am
hmmmm. i know i'm probably in the minority on this but i really hope if/when he resumes touring he doesn't ditch the sound & fury stuff. i really like that album a lot. i had 2nd row tickets for a big show at the gorge in washington & was really looking forward to it. good on him though for cancelling rather than postponing as it put an end to the refund question. i would've held on to the tickets but its nice to have a choice in the matter. the games the big promoters have been playing are beyond the pale. for instance, the drive-by truckers show that was supposed to be in july in seattle has been postponed for the second time. i got an email saying that. a day later, AEG sent an email saying the show was on. that since has been sorted out but there isn't a refund option because the date is now to be determined.
If there's one thing you can bet on Sturgill Simpson to do, it's not do the same thing twice in a row. He was going to stay in that Sound & Fury format as long as he was going to stay a honky tonk guy. It's just what he does. The instant you praise him for what he's doing, he jukes.

He'll probably drop a rap album next, and it probably won't suck.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Mundane Mayhem »

Doing any sort of psychoanalysis on Sturgill effing Simpson is a fool's errand, but I've sort of been wondering if his brush with mortality via COVID-19 is part of the reason behind this pivot back to bluegrass. On the stream, he said something to the effect of "this is the music that's in my heart." Maybe he's reconnecting with it because we all realize right now that time is not infinite and tomorrow's not promised.

Or maybe he just wanted to play some bluegrass with his friends, so he did. Who's to say? I'm pretty happy to follow him down whatever back alleys he chooses to take, so long as he continues putting music into the world.
All it takes is one wicked heart, a pile of money, and a chain of folks just doing their jobs

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by LBRod »

bovine knievel wrote:
Sat Jun 06, 2020 2:11 pm

That stream was smokin’! Sturgill comes full circle. Bringing the ‘grass

Amen.
Don't hurt people, and don't take their stuff.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Cole Younger »

I really, really like bluegrass Sturgill and am fired up about the forthcoming records. Still don’t like the last one but I think I understand why he did it now.
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Cole Younger
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Cole Younger »

tinnitus photography wrote:
Sat May 02, 2020 11:29 am
Cole Younger wrote:What little I remember about that is thinking Luke Bryan sounded like a dog with peanut butter stuck to the roof of his mouth, And Cole Swindell was like one of those little fish that swims around right under a shark and feeds on the scraps left over from whatever the shark eats. As drunk girls fawned all over Luke Bryan, Cole Swindell was there to tell the ones not getting much attention, “I sing too. Me and Luke are friends.”
:lol: :lol: :lol:
I’m telling you, man it was exactly like that. I was laughing watching it happen.
A single shot rifle and a one eyed dog.

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rlipps
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by rlipps »

Sturgill promised 2 bluegrass albums back in the summer, volume 1 drops tomorrow.

https://www.rollingstone.com/music/musi ... 1-1075299/

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by bovine knievel »

“Excited people get on daddy’s nerves.” - M. Cooley

LBRod
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by LBRod »

If it's anything like his live stream from the Ryman, I'm ready.
Don't hurt people, and don't take their stuff.

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by bovine knievel »

LBRod wrote:
Thu Oct 15, 2020 4:24 pm
If it's anything like his live stream from the Ryman, I'm ready.
And more!
“Excited people get on daddy’s nerves.” - M. Cooley

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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Clams »

Tonight/early morning Friday 10/16, 2020 midnight/24:00 hours, I am releasing what I feel to be the best work and truest representation of myself as an artist that I have ever created.

It was the last complete album recorded at The Butcher Shoppe, the now non-existent studio once co-owned by John Prine and my dear friend and Producer David Ferguson.
I cannot imagine a better final chapter to the legacy of what was my favorite studio on Earth.
I am grateful beyond words for the time I was given with John and the love and wisdom he gave to me.
I will always miss him and his smile.
Always.

I am equally as grateful for the friendship and mentorship I have received the last four years from Ferg. He has been a touchstone and a source of education that I will never be able to repay him for.
The man has forgotten more about recording music than most will ever know. He helped me and gave me the confidence to self-produce and make “Sailors Guide”. He co-produced both of Tylers albums and Margo’s recent album with me and it has been a source of great personal frustration and pain to see his name as an afterthought to mine or sometimes even omitted in reviews of those bodies of work. He was hired by Cowboy Jack Clement as an engineer at 16 years old and worked for him for almost 30 years before going on to engineer albums for U2 and all of Johnny Cash’s Rick Ruben recordings. More importantly he has been a treasured and trusted friend to me in a town where I have had very few.
So I turned myself and my art over to him completely for these recordings so I could focus solely on being just another “member of the band”.

I am so proud of this album.
I am so proud of all of you for your donations which directly led to the motivation and initiative behind its recording.

I am in complete and total disbelief that I got to sing and record these songs with this group of incomprehensibly talented musicians and more than anything I wish both my Grandfathers were still alive to hear this album.
But they are not,..so instead I offer it to you.

Peace, hair grease, and above all else, immense thanks, healing, and eternal love.

About to drop it like its hot.
Dick Daddy out
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rlipps
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by rlipps »

Here's what Sturgill wrote in the email he sent out this morning announcing the record:
Cuttin' Grass - Vol. 1 (The Butcher Shoppe Sessions)

This album started when I was in the third grade.

My paternal grandfather was sort of a bluegrass freak. He played a little mandolin, and after he retired, he’d travel around to bluegrass festivals in his motor home making field recordings. He just lived and ate and breathed it, and every time he’d come to visit, he’d try to shove it down my throat. My palette wasn’t ready to absorb it at the time—I was probably still into the Monkees and, thanks to an older cousin, discovering bands like Cream and Led Zeppelin far too young. He would sit me down and play cassette tapes of live bluegrass. One night in my room, when he could sense my rejection of what I was hearing, he looked at me directly and said, “One day it's gonna get in ya, and it’ll never get out.” I wish more than anything he was still here and could hear this collection of songs.

Many years later, after returning home to Kentucky from the military and living for some time out on the West coast, I was driving down the road one day and the public radio station played an old Monroe Brothers song and it absolutely floored me. A wave of emotion slammed me in the chest and I had to pull over on the side of the road. I was pretty much drifting at the time—completely lost, I guess you could say—and hearing that music brought everything to the surface.
It sounded like home. Bluegrass music is healing. I truly believe this to be true. It is made from ancient, organic tones and, as with most all forms of music, the vibrations and the pulse can be extremely therapeutic.

After that, I spent the next eight years or so obsessively scouring the earth for any and all of the old recordings of this music I could find. This was pre-YouTube era, so it wasn’t that easy. In 2005, I moved to Nashville for the first time. I was there for about a year, and the only thing I did was sit in my cinder block garage apartment and go to the Station Inn every Sunday night to play bluegrass. Needless to say, it was not the career jump-start I was hoping for, and I ended up moving back out west and taking a railroad job.

There’s been various reoccurring phases of obsession throughout my life with just about every kind of American music. In high school I was completely obsessed with electric blues and guitar playing. As I got older, I got more into writing and singing songs and playing acoustic guitars, more out of necessity than anything due to living in small apartments where I couldn’t crank up an amp. All the songs I’ve ever recorded in my life were written on one guitar, a Martin HD-28 I've owned since I was much younger, and sung in a fashion that was probably closer to bluegrass or country blues than to anything else. So doing a bluegrass album was always in my heart and in the back of my head. I had it in my mind for a long time that someday I wanted to cut as many of these songs as possible in that fashion, just organic and stripped down to the raw bones of the composition, without any heady production. If you can’t sit down and play the song like that, it’s probably not a very good song.

Last year, we made a pretty bangin’ rock and roll record and started a big arena tour, but it all got halted and ultimately cancelled when I got sick with the ‘Rona. We were in Europe back in January and February, and then came back to do arena shows in the US starting in late February. We had barely gotten into the tour when I knew something didn’t feel right—I felt extremely winded and fatigued, out of shape even...certain notes weren’t coming as easy as they should have. I couldn’t make sense of it, as I had lost a ton of weight in recent months in preparations for the tour and was living cleaner than ever. We played in Charleston on March 10th and the next day I was completely leveled physically, so we cancelled a string of shows that weekend starting in Hampton, West Virginia, and I went home. The next morning I was in the ER with pre-stroke blood pressure levels, feeling like I had an invisible ratchet strap cranking down around my chest. So after years of needing the break I never allowed myself, the universe decided it was time I stay home and take it easy.

I was stuck at home recovering in south Tennessee. I didn’t have any social media presence whatsoever to speak of before this last tour and the guys in my band gave me a lot of grief about that, so I let my drummer set my page up. I spend a lot of time in the woods at home. So on one of many boring days in quarantine, I made some goofy post in character as a backwoods badass named “Dick Daddy” running a fictitious survival school looking for new recruits, and somebody commented, “If you put that on a t-shirt, I’d buy it.” So I thought, what if I put it on 30,000 t-shirts and give that money to charity? Having been personally affected by this virus, I was trying to think of some way to help and to use the platform for something other than narcissism or toxicity. The response was amazing and hilarious. I received some pretty far-out recruit application videos in those weeks from people stuck at home trying to “live above Hell."

In an effort to raise more money, I told my fans that if they hit a certain number by a deadline, I would put on a livestream concert, and if we reached a second goal, I’d put a record out this year. Well, they blew those goals completely out of the water, so really it was the fans made this album happen. Otherwise I may have just as easily spent all summer fishing and changing diapers. I called up my engineer/co-producer/partner in crime, David Ferguson and said, “Get all the best players in town,” and we went in and banged this record out in about three days, with no planning or preparation.

Ferg had been begging me to make this album since we’d met in 2015. He has been a true friend and touchstone for me in Nashville where I've had so few.
He has also probably forgotten more about recording music than most people will ever know in this life, so I put myself in his hands and asked him to produce the sessions so I could focus more on having fun and singing. I self-produced my last two albums and have learned it can sometimes be an unnecessarily exhausting process wearing all those hats at the same time.

That same week we did a charity gig at the Ryman, which was essentially a livestream of our first rehearsal. That was one of the more surreal gigs of my life, playing that room completely empty.

I typically go into the studio with most of the album written in my head and end up throwing half the songs away and writing the rest during the process once the album reveals itself for what it wants to be. But with this record, I just went though my back catalogue and listed which songs I thought would work best and surrounded myself with musical wizards, so at most there might have been some second takes...but not many. Once they learned the form, we just went in and hit record. Ferg and I told everyone, “What you play off the floor is what it’s going to be—we’re not punching in solos or overdubbing anything, it’s just going to be totally raw and live.” Due to modern recording technology and the endless choices it brings, even modern bluegrass recordings have suffered from the soul-sucking pursuit of perfection. Merle Haggard once told me that “perfect is about the most boring thing on Earth.” When it comes to music, he was dead on. As a result it was the fastest recording I’ve ever made.

Adapting the songs was pretty easy; even a few of the tunes that I thought might be a little weird worked very easily. Some of the more esoteric psycho-babble songs, like the song “Just Let Go,” we got in the first take. It was just extremely easy, fun, everybody was laughing the whole time. Mostly, I was just humbled and amazed to be in the room with all these musicians. You can’t overstate all their talents—truly next-level freak show kind of stuff.

There are songs from all my albums except for the last one, and there’s two or three that I wrote 15 years ago back when I was playing dive bars in Kentucky. Those are the songs that were really cool to hear finally realized the way I had always wanted them to be recorded. “I Don’t Mind” is a song I wrote in 2006 or 2007, and it’s probably my wife’s favorite song that I’ve ever written. So she basically said, “Don’t come home if that thing’s not on the album” I thought it turned out really pretty, really beautiful, everybody did a great job on it.

If I had to say what’s the most definitively bluegrass song on the record, I would probably say “All the Pretty Colors.” The performance, the feel, the lyrical content, that could be like a bluegrass standard some day. I really loved what Sierra Hull, who sings and plays mandolin, did on “Breaker’s Roar”—she put these lilting harmonies on it that made it just as pretty as the strings on the Sailor’s Guide record. I thought that was really cool. She’s such an amazing and special talent and her mandolin playing really brought a fresh contemporary feel to the album that might otherwise not have been there had I used any number of other players. She also kept everyone on their best behavior in the studio. Bluegrass musicians can be a squirrelly bunch.

The bluegrass I love is from post-World War II up to the mid-‘70s. All of it, from the classic styles to the Ozark style, and especially some of the folk-tinged, almost mystical sounds that came out of California in the late '60s. After that, everything kinda got away from the true pulse and the rhythm of bluegrass that Bill Monroe devised, and became more based on hot flash soloing and herky-jerky “look what I can do.” That stuff does nothing for me.

My grandfather always told me that when it came to the instrumental or the solo sections, if you get away from the melody of the song, you’re not playing bluegrass anymore, you’re just showing off. So we were trying to adhere to the Jimmy Martin swing, the Clinch Mountain feel, because that’s the bluegrass I love. It should sound like a train rolling. I decided to call it volume one—because I could easily and literally do seventeen of these albums!

The thing I’ve realized about the ride I’ve been on these past seven years is that to me, despite what others may call and label them, all my records are simply “American music.” My head and my heart go different directions all the time, and when you put out a record, it becomes this definitive thing, like "this is who you are now" because people need to define things for the cycle of that album. This album for me was always just supposed to be a sort of simple mix tape for my fans, so it’s somewhat funny to me to think we might play TV shows and what not to promote it, and for a time I’ll be considered a bluegrass musician. In all honesty, though, I guess that's probably the closest thing to the truth that could ever be put in print about me.

This album also begins a new phase for my career. I'm starting back the way I started out, on my own record label. I’m realizing more and more every day what I already knew, which is that I was always supposed to be an independent artist. I’m just trying to look forward and create without any industry timelines or narratives and all the creative restrictions that inevitably come with them. The real benefit is that I’ve completely fallen back in love with music again. I was really burnt out for a long while, due to so many variables that had absolutely nothing to do with making music, and as a result had started associating music with some of the headaches behind the curtain that came with it. But with all that now in the rearview, I am feeling extremely healthy and happy. Mostly I'm just extremely grateful to wake up every day and look at my children. When I'm not playing with my kids, I just sit around playing guitar all day, which I haven’t really done for a number of years.

The world’s hurting right now in so many ways...there are a lot of people in way worse shape than most of us could ever imagine. I cannot fix or change any of this. But I can change myself. And I can put some music out, and hopefully, if nothing else, it might make some people forget about their pain and troubles for fifty-five minutes.

- Sturgill Simpson, October 2020


Zip Up to Michigan
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by Zip Up to Michigan »

I listened this morning. While its certainly nice on the ears, I was hoping for more new material. Hopefully this inspires him to write an entire original bluegrass record.

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roland
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by roland »

I love it! First a "fuck you" to Elektra, and now an album full of tight bluegrassy retakes for his own label! I'm on my second listen, and it's going to be in the chill rotation for a while.

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bovine knievel
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Re: Sturgill Simpson Thread

Post by bovine knievel »

“Excited people get on daddy’s nerves.” - M. Cooley

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