Artist Profile: Sturgill Simpson

On September 19th, 2021, the Outlaw Music Festival made a stop in Charlotte, North Carolina. The festival was headlined by country music legend, Willie Nelson. The act that took the stage right before Nelson was country singer and guitarist, Sturgill Simpson.

Simpson had performed at the previous four stops leading up to the Charlotte show. He played his whole set despite one major setback; he was losing his voice.

Photo of Sturgill Simpson Photo Credit: americanahighways.org

Simpson was scheduled to perform at the next two stops of the festival, but had to cancel due to his voice not getting better. He took to Instagram later to confirm that, “I did in fact unfortunately hemorrhage / rupture my vocal cords after all.” Simpson cancelled all of his remaining shows in 2021.

Simpson didn’t begin playing country music until he was in his early 20’s. He was first influenced to pick up the guitar by rock and blues artists like Eric Clapton, Peter Green, Chuck Berry, Bo Diddly, Billy Gibbons and Eddie Van Halen.

As stated in an interview with Guitar Moves, Simpson stated “I got out of the Navy, came home and that’s when I discovered old bluegrass, World War II to the 70s bluegrass and it was like all I thought about for 10 years.” He went on to explain “I was still like really into electric guitar, so playing Telecaster, just sort of like without realizing it, was starting to try to emulate Bill [Monroe] mandolin licks or like Ralph Stanly banjo licks, but on Telly.”

Simpson has released seven albums, all sonically different. The first was High Top Mountain in 2013. It shows his Kentucky roots by having an Appalachian sound, and it includes a cover of Ralph Stanley’s “Poor Rambler.”

Simpson’s breakthrough album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music followed a year later with a 70’s outlaw country style. It caused music experts and fans to compare Simpson to Waylon Jennings, both sonically and vocally.

Album Art for A Sailor's Guide to Earth

A couple years later Simpson released A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, which was dedicated to his wife and first-born son with a lyrical theme of family throughout the album. This album added a horn section to the classic Sturgill sound his fans were accustomed to. It even included a cover of Nirvana’s “In Bloom.”

In 2019, Simpson released a rock album entitled Sound & Fury that had an accompanying anime on Netflix with the same name. Simpson took on the role of lead guitarist in addition to his usual role of vocalist. For this album, Simpson went away from his usual country style.

Wilson Purdue is a Music Business major at Radford University. He is a guitarist and a fan of Simpson. “My dream as a musician is to be in a place where I can just be like, you know what? I’m not liking the sound that people know me for.” He stated when talking about Simpson’s way of changing styles from album to album. “It really inspires me as a musician to try different things and write in different styles.”

Over the next couple of years Simpson returned to his bluegrass and Kentucky roots and released Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 & 2 which heavily featured bluegrass versions of some of Simpson’s songs from his previous albums.

A month before Simpson sustained his injury at the Outlaw Music Festival, he released a bluegrass concept album titled The Ballad of Dood and Juanita. It had a continuous storyline about two lovers, Dood and Juanita, throughout all 10 tracks. This was speculated by fans to be his last album.

As well as making his own music, Simpson has been a producer of other country artists like Tyler Childers. He Co-produced Childers’ breakthrough album, Purgatory with Dave Fergeson. Simpson also provided background vocals and lead guitar on tracks “Purgatory” and “Whitehouse Road” for this album.

When asked how valuable a wide range of skills, like Simpson has shown, is to make it in the music industry, Professor David Rivers said, “It’s everything.”

Prof. Rivers is the Director of Music Business at Radford University. He also was a songwriter and producer that worked in Nashville and Los Angeles. He went on to talk about how “the more you bring to the table, you’ll be taken more seriously as a musician.”

Album Art for The Dead Don't Die Soundtrack Photo Credit: amazon.com

While away from recording music, Simpson took up acting. He appeared in The Hunt, Killers of the Flower Moon, and The Dead Don’t Die, which he also provided the soundtrack for it. Simpson also appeared in The Righteous Gemstones and performed a cover of Larry Gatlin’s “All The Gold In California.”

Simpson made a surprise studio appearance on producer Diplo’s track “Use Me (Brutal Hearts)” that also featured Dove Cameron. The artist credits of the track list are Diplo, Dove Cameron, Sturgill Simpson, and Johnny Blue Skies. This got fans wondering if Simpson would make a full return to making music after a three-year hiatus.

In the Spring of 2024, Simpson released a brand-new album titled Passage Du Desir. Simpson released this album under the name Johnny Blue Skies.

In an interview with GQ Simpson stated, “Sturgill has served his purpose, but he’s dead, he’s gone, and I’m definitely not that guy anymore.”

Simpson further explained the rebrand to Johnny Blue Skies, “There’s a contrarian in me that always wants to push against any kind of expectation,” If something works, there’s a thought in my brain, like, ‘No, I’m being told to do that again.’”

“I don’t mind what he’s doing. I like the rebrand. I don’t mind the name change. Honestly, I don’t even care about that, because at the end of the day, it’s still going to be Sturgill to me.” Purdue stated about Simpson rebranding to Johnny Blue Skies. “Regardless of what he’s calling himself, I’m still getting good music out of it.”

Right after Simpson announced his new album, he also revealed the “Why Not?” Tour. The tour had very few stops with opening acts. At the bottom of the website, Simpson answered questions fans had about the tour about Johnny Blue Skies and the band with a frequently asked questions section. “Q: Is Johnny Blue Skies Sturgill Simpson? A: Yes Q: Will Sturgill be playing music from his entire catalog on the “Why Not?” Tour? A: Yes Q: Is the band Kevin, Laur, Miles and Robbie? A: Yes”

Photo Credit: gratefulweb.com

Simpson has announced another tour titled “Who The F*** Is Johnny Blue Skies?” Tour. The poster states at the bottom, “No Openers. If you’re on time, you’re late.” This tour began on April 5th and will continue until its final stop in Louisville, Kentucky on September 19th.