Sturgill Simpson

Simpson formed the Country/Rock band Sunday Valley in 2004, for which he played Guitar/Vocals,[18] which played at the Pickathon festival in Portland, Oregon.[21]

Simpson took a break from music, focusing on building a career at a Salt Lake City railroad freight-shipping yard for Union Pacific Railroad, which he eventually ended up managing. He credits his wife and friends with supporting what he characterized as a hobbyist focus on songwriting and playing to convincing him to actually focus on getting serious and trying to make music for a living.[17] After playing local open mics and gigs, Simpson returned to Sunday Valley. The band toured and made an album. He and his wife moved to Nashville when the group disbanded in 2012.[22]

After going solo, Simpson released his debut album High Top Mountain in 2013, which he self-funded, self-released, and had cut in Nashville [21][23][24] before signing to British independent label Loose,[25] who released the album in Europe in 2014.[26] The album was produced by Dave Cobb. Among the session musicians were Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano and Robby Turner, a former guitarist for Waylon Jennings, on steel guitar.[19] The record is named after a cemetery near Jackson where many of Simpson's family members are buried.[27] Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic rated High Top Mountain 3 and half stars out of 5, comparing its sound favorably to Waylon Jennings.[28] The album's style has also been compared to Merle Haggard's.[24] Erik Ernst of the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel also compared it to Jennings, saying that it had "rich vintage sounds, heartbreaking ballads, and juke-joint ramblers".[29]

Simpson in 2013

In 2014, Simpson released his second album produced by Dave Cobb, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music to positive reviews.[30][31][32][33] The album's lead single is "Living the Dream".[34] The record is described as a "deep and unconventional relationship between traditionalism and new ways of thinking," and deviates from Simpson's more traditional hard country debut.[35] Simpson said that "recording and mixing was done in five and a half days for about $4,000. I was pretty proud about that."[36] The album made two separate "Top Albums of 2014" lists in The New York Times (ranking 4th[37] and 8th[38]) and was also called the best album of the year by American Songwriter.[39]

Simpson made his US network television debut on July 14, 2014, on the Late Show with David Letterman, playing "Life of Sin".[40] That year, he would go on to play "Living the Dream" on a September episode of Conan,[41] "Turtles All the Way Down" on an October episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon,[42] and "The Promise" on a December episode of Late Night with Seth Meyers.[43] In 2015, he returned to The Late Show and Conan playing "Long White Line" in February and "Just Let Go" in April (respectively).[44][45] He has also played the Grand Ole Opry[16] and at Austin City Limits. He has opened for artists like Dwight Yoakam, Willie Nelson,[46] Merle Haggard,[47] and the Zac Brown Band.[48]

His cover of "The Promise" by 1980s band When In Rome was featured in the Season 2 Episode 9 of the HBO series The Leftovers in November 2015.[49] The first track from this album, "Turtles All The Way Down," was featured in the soundtrack for Season 1 Episode 5 of HBO's series Watchmen in November 2019.[50] Simpson also wrote and performed the theme song to the Martin Scorsese/Mick Jagger-produced TV show, Vinyl. The song is called "Sugar Daddy."[51] As of July 2015, Simpson's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing—an agreement that followed his record deal with Atlantic Records.[52]

In March 2016, Simpson released the first track from his third album, A Sailor's Guide To Earth, a song called "Brace For Impact (Live A Little)."[53] The record is a commemoration of the birth of Simpson's son, and features work by The Dap-Kings from Brooklyn's Daptone Records,[54] as well as a cover of Nirvana's, "In Bloom." Simpson self-produced the record – Dave Cobb, who produced his prior records, did not work on this record, marking a departure from prior efforts.[51] Simpson also created the record with a focus on sequencing, and recorded tracks live.[53] The record marks his major label debut.[20] It was nominated for Album of the Year and won Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards.[55] In January 2017, Simpson appeared on the Felicity Jones-hosted episode of Saturday Night Live, playing "Keep It Between the Lines" and "Call to Arms."[56][57]

Simpson had planned to take a break from touring for the entirety of 2017 to focus on his family, but reconsidered after his Grammy nominations.[58] He began touring again in May 2017 by playing a show at the Wharf Amphitheater in Orange Beach, Alabama, with Margo Price.[59] Simpson also performed as the opening act for three shows during the Guns N' Roses "Not in this Lifetime" tour in the summer of 2017.[60] Simpson helped produce fellow Kentucky singer/songwriter Tyler Childers' 2017 album Purgatory after being introduced to Childers by drummer Miles Miller.[61]

In a March 5, 2018, interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Simpson revealed that he was working on his fourth studio album, and hinted that it would be a double album, though this was ultimately not the case.[62] The title of the album, Sound & Fury, was announced on July 21, 2019, at the San Diego Comic-Con, with Simpson describing it as a "sleazy, steamy rock'n'roll record". A companion anime film bearing the same name was also released on Netflix.[63] The album was officially put up for pre-order on August 20, 2019, with the track "Sing Along" being released the same day. It was released on September 27, 2019, to positive reviews.[64] The album broke with Simpson's established country style, featuring a fuzzy hard rock sound influenced by psychedelia and funk music.

Simpson was originally going to perform at the Woodstock 50 music festival in August 2019, before the festival's cancellation.[65][66]

• Chuck Bartels[67] – bass guitar (2015–present)
• Bobby Emmett – keyboards (2012–2013, 2015–present)
• Miles Miller – drums, percussion, backing vocals (2012–present)

• Kevin Black – bass guitar (2011–2015)
• Laur Joamets – electric guitar (2013–2017)
• Adam Davis – electric guitar (2012–2013)