All tagged Sturgill Simpson
After three years, Sturgill Simpson has returned with a new album. Sorta. Sturgill mentioned for years that he had a five album plan and when he was done with that, he was done. He’s kept his word as everything he’s released since 2021’s Dood & Juanita has been under the Johnny Blue Skies moniker with the exception of the song “All The Gold in California” which he used his character’s name, Brother Marshall, from the TV series The Righteous Gemstones.
Passage Du Desir is no different. The Johnny Blue Skies name first appeared in the liner notes of Sturgill’s 2016 Grammy Award winning A Sailor’s Guide to Earth. If one were to compare this album to any of his previous output, Sailor’s Guide would be the closest, minus the brass section. Sturgill Simpson fans are going to love this. Anyone looking for a traditional country album is going to be disappointed; though there are a few bright spots in that category. All in all, there’s something here for everyone.
I’m not telling any secrets when I say that the first time most of us heard Miles Miller sing, he was contributing backup vocals on Tyler Childers’ debut album.. While the last several years of Miles Miller’s life have been spent behind the kit backing another titan of the alt-country world in Sturgill Simpson, the first time that I heard Miles sing and thought “why isn’t this guy putting out material of his own?” was an instagram post, singing a Don Williams song. Luckily for all of us the universe was apparently whispering the same thing in his ear.
Sturgill may have had the title for his latest concept album, The Ballad of Dood & Juanita, in his head for years, but he reportedly kept hitting a wall when it came to actually bringing the idea to fruition. Simpson stumbled upon inspiration during his recent drive home from Oklahoma after wrapping up filming for Sorcese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, in which Simpson co-stars. According to Simpson, the drive proved fateful when he found himself in the clutches of Willie’s 1975 conceptual masterpiece Red Headed Stranger. After listening to the album 7 or 8 times on repeat, he mentally blended the album’s style and purpose with a picture his wife had recently sent him of two antique Kentucky long rifles and his long-held notions of a tribute album for his grandfather Dood, whom fans met in Panbowl and came to know better in Hero. Sturgill says it took two days for the entire album to culminate lyrically, with Sturgill’s grandfather Dood stepping into somewhat of a historical fiction protagonist role and each supporting character, Sham, Sam, and Juanita, being paid homage with their own individual tune. With the writing done, Sturgill called upon the talented musicians who helped him create his last two bluegrass albums to help give his bird of a story a song in its throat. Willie even lent ol’ Dood a hand, cranking out a signature Spanish guitar solo on Trigger that deftly gives structure to our meeting with Juanita during the tune by that name. The entire process “from coming into [Sturgill’s] head and out of the speakers” took a mere five days.
Last year seemed like a banner year for releases, but the buzz for 2020 albums, tours and festivals had everyone thrilled for what was to come. No one imagined that all of that would come to a screeching halt in Mid-March when a global pandemic struck. A devastating blow to the performing arts community among so many other small businesses, the education system and the healthcare community. Many musicians had just released or were nearing release dates for their music, but were left unable to tour in support of it. Some chose to delay their releases and others forged on and released albums, EPs and singles anyway. I have a great deal of respect for those that took a gamble and provided us with one of the most important things to help get us through this difficult period. The power of music has continued to bring us together when we can’t join each other like we normally would. Thankfully, social media has allowed the artists to perform livestreams or even just promote their art. It’s allowed the fans to share music and continue to discuss and analyze it. Here at the Amp, we’ve made our own individual lists of our favorite three albums this year to share with our readers. We hope that you’ve listened to some of these amazing artists and their albums, but if not, we hope that you’ll at least give them a listen and perhaps find some new favorites.
