Dismissive Roots Hipster Now Thinks Sturgill Simpson Sucks
Everywhere you look people are singing the praises of independent country music upstart Sturgill Simpson and his latest album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music. The Kentucky-born singer and songwriter has become a favorite of critics and fans alike. Sturgill has recently been ensconced at the very top of many media outlet’s end-of-year ‘Best Of’ lists, walked away with a new piece of shelf art for Emerging Artist of the Year at the Americana Music Awards, and now has even been nominated for a Grammy. It’s all part of a ‘Metamodern’ rise that has seen Sturgill go from a no name to one of the most promising independent country artists to be launched in years.
But not everyone shares in the positive sentiments. As with all things, taste is subjective, and one music fan named Justin Rose from East Nashville is not on board the Sturgill Simpson bandwagon, at least not anymore.
“If I want to listen to Waylon, I’ll listen to Waylon. Not some modern-day impersonator who wears Carhartt and probably drinks corporate beer that’s not Pabst,” says Justin Rose while rolling a cigarette outside of Fond Object on Nashville’s east side. “I bet he hasn’t even done all the psychedelics he sings about. Like he’s the very first to make a psychedelic country record or something. Please. I have a dozen albums better than that on vinyl. I heard that he was in the Navy. He’s probably active in his church’s volleyball league and voted for Romney.”
Despite his dismissive tone, Justin Rose says he was an early fan of Sturgill’s when the songwriter first moved to Nashville.
“Yeah, I knew that guy when he was playing to an empty Station Inn and nobody knew about him. He actually wasn’t half bad back then. I saw him at The Basement with like six people. Now you can’t even get into his shows because they’re so packed with Vanderbilt Business School post-grads with khaki pants and backwards baseball caps that smell like Axe body spray. I even bought his first solo album ‘High Top Mountain’ on vinyl. It was alright, but when I saw how everyone was jumping on board and calling him the ‘country music savior’ I donated it with a bunch of other crap to the thrift store. At one of his shows I tried to talk to him about my tattoos, but he said he had to load his gear or something. Now I heard he was out touring with fucking Zac Brown. It just proves that bullshit sells.”
Justin Rose insists that the music of Sturgill Simpson is no big deal.
“There’s probably a dozen bands here in east Nashville that are better than Sturgill, but of course you will never hear about them because the music business is all politics. And really, I’m glad nobody will hear about them. Last thing I want is a bunch of people showing up, ruining the experience. People should make music for the art of it, not to get popular and have critics kiss your ass just because it’s cool. I saw they gave Sturgill the #1 album in ‘American Songwriter’ and ‘The Nashville Scene.’ I don’t understand why people don’t get that music sounds better when less people know about it. Watching good bands play to empty bar rooms and not be able to support themselves or their families fills me with a sense of elitism and pride, like I’m better than everybody else because I know about this awesome music and others don’t, and then me an my friends can flaunt this on Facebook and Instagram under the guise of ‘supporting the music.’ I just can’t like music if I think it is popular or successful in any way. Feeling like I’m part of an exclusive scene fills me with a sense of self-importance.”
Though Mr. Rose refuses to count himself amongst Sturgill Simpson supporters, he says he’s not completely opposed to listening to Sturgill’s music in the future. “Maybe if he plays Burning Man or some of my favorite local festivals where there’s more bands than fans in attendance and nobody makes any money, then it’s not like I’d avoid his set or anything. But until then, me and my friends will park across from whatever venue he’s playing and laugh about how the people are dressed and how they don’t ‘get it’ like we do.”
December 8, 2014 @ 7:15 pm
Amazing.
July 13, 2016 @ 9:34 pm
Why would you waste a good interview on this moron who gets pissed off because Sturgill doesn’t want to talk about his tattoos?
This is a joke right? A parody that I missed?
I lived in Nashville for several years and loved it but this guy reminds me of what I detest about the Nashville scene. These guys who are players, writers, whatevers that didn’t have the wherewithall to make a living in the business so they label themselves as purist and everybody that can make a living in the business sucks. It must really suck to envy people so much that you have to create a false reality to live in because no one thought your tattoos were cool enough to give you a record deal. Haaaa Maybe you should have talked to Gary Allen before you got your tats cause he has some really nice artwork on him plus…he got a record deal. Lol I saw Sturgill on Austin City Limits the other night and he was actually refreshing. His music had some authenticity. Frankly I am sick to death of the Bro country Luke Byan and crap like that. I call it bubble gum country and will be elated when its a distant memory.
July 21, 2017 @ 9:07 am
When someone doesn’t understand satire. Well written Trig. I had tears by paragraph three.
December 8, 2014 @ 7:17 pm
Justin Rose is an asshat.
December 8, 2014 @ 7:28 pm
Is Justin Rose related to Michael Jackson Montgomery? He bears a striking resemblance.
December 8, 2014 @ 7:42 pm
Haha! Nice spoof article! Good one!
This sounds EXACTLY like what a hipster would say!
Kudos, Trigger!
December 8, 2014 @ 7:43 pm
Hah! Great writing…and so true
December 8, 2014 @ 7:45 pm
Ha ha ha! Reminds me of The Onion. Well done.
December 8, 2014 @ 7:48 pm
Nice mustache, by the way. Was this article just an excuse to show it off?
December 8, 2014 @ 7:49 pm
I thought this was an actual article until I read the tags on the bottom. Submit this to the Onion.
December 8, 2014 @ 7:53 pm
funny as hell….
December 8, 2014 @ 7:58 pm
Gold. Pure gold. Well done, Trigger.
December 8, 2014 @ 8:07 pm
This is hilarious and all too real. It’s sad and weird how there is often a backlash when a non-mainstream band/musician starts getting a lot of attention. Some people have unfair expectations of musicians, I think.
December 8, 2014 @ 10:54 pm
Ha! Justin Rose might be in Nashville now, but I guarantee you he moved there from Portland! 😀
December 10, 2014 @ 4:40 pm
Well everybody at the Portland show did look like this asstart justin rose. And they all fucking stood there with one hand holding their wine and the other holding their goddamn phones. Why sturg’s camp picked that way too small goddamn emo-hipster-cork-snifffer-whatever you wanna call it venue I do not know.
December 10, 2014 @ 4:58 pm
Because Sturgill is in that weird place for artists where they are ascending so quickly they are too big for clubs, but have to play and sell them out to convince promoters and booking agents they’re legit and are ready for the next level. I saw him at the Rattle Inn in Austin 2 years ago and there were six people there. Next tour he will be playing the largest clubs/small to mid theaters, if he’s not picked up as an opener on another arena tour. That’s just the way of things. Remember when Nirvana had to play Trees in Dallas while they could have been selling out arenas, and Kurt Cobain lost his shit? Even Florida Georgia Line was forced to go on a club tour before they could play arenas.
December 10, 2014 @ 11:01 pm
Even considering all that – this was a WEIRD venue for him to be at. I’m familiar with, and have played at many of the venues he played at in the other cities on this tour, and this was just a weird choice for him. Probably the first time the inside of that venue has ever heard a note of country! Either way, I wish I could have seen him, but he sold out almost immediately – never got the chance!
December 10, 2014 @ 5:36 pm
Yeah, Portland crowds always make me uncomfortable”¦my boots won’t allow me to wear skinny jeans and I like to drop my poop in the toilet, not my pants. At least you never have to watch your back in there – it is nice to know you can lick any sonofabitch in the house at those shows if it came down to it as the weaklings weighing 98 pounds aren’t going to start trouble. I grew up listening to country, so Sturgill feels like home. Sturgill is Waylon with a literary tune up. I wish the Drive-By Truckers didn’t have him on such a short leash at the Fillmore shows”¦Patterson’s ego is oh, so fragile.
December 11, 2014 @ 11:18 am
Some asshole asked me to take my hat off cause he couldn’t see. Well I couldn’t see either! Not too mention dance motherfucker! What is this blue man group? Nothing to see but some regular ass dudes in flannels making good ass music.
Regarding Trig’s comment on venues, there are a number of better venues in Portland that would better suit his current situation, the phonegazer crowd could have stood quietly in the back and I could have kept my hat on. Mississippi studios is just fucked for a man who plays music that makes you wanna stomp your feet and boogie wooogie! There are small venues that work layout wise and Mississippi Studios aint one of them. If they put as much into the music venue as they did to the heated outdoor fucking smoking patio maybe it could work.
Saw Sturg in Sacramento two nights before Portland, way better crowd although Sturg didn’t seem as excited as he did in Portland (he needs to drink a coke and lighten the fuck up!) FUCK PORTLAND. Rant over
December 11, 2014 @ 5:41 pm
I wore a huge home-stitched business Stetson to the Fillmore, ate my apple and only took my hat off to mop my brow. Nobody said a goddamned thing to me.
December 8, 2014 @ 10:54 pm
“Watching good bands play to empty bar rooms and not be able to support themselves or their families fills me with a sense of elitism and pride, like I”™m better than everybody else because I know about this awesome music and others don”™t, and then me an my friends can flaunt this on Facebook and Instagram under the guise of ”˜supporting the music.”™ I just can”™t like music if I think it is popular or successful in any way. Feeling like I”™m part of an exclusive scene fills me with a sense of self-importance.”
*
If I come across someone candidly admitting this is an actual news article, I will hold an intense, albeit begrudging, respect for that person! 😉
December 8, 2014 @ 10:59 pm
I’d like to send this fella a Xmas card if I knew which institution he was currently locked up in .
Hey …I know she’s not country ( what mainstream-er REALLY is ? )..but what does the SCM club think of Jackie Evancho ?
December 9, 2014 @ 12:20 am
Mother fuckin hilarious. Thought it was real till the tagline also! The whole time I was reading it it was thinking “why in the hell would Trig care what this tool thinks?” I still want to punch that guy in the picture though.
December 9, 2014 @ 12:41 am
“At one of his shows I tried to talk to him about my tattoos” – ha ha!! Sounds like the nutter you always meet at the bus stop!
December 9, 2014 @ 1:56 am
This article is so true. I thought I was a big S.S. fan. But now I realize I don’t.
I remember back in the day when people used to use paper, I had a rubber stamp made up that said “Their early stuff is way better.” It ALWAYS applied.
December 9, 2014 @ 2:30 am
Man, if your solemn vow to stop writing rants means more biting satire like this, by all means, never rant again! Sadly, I actually know some of these people. Man, when I see an artist I like from the independent/underground Country Music scene start obtaining success, it makes me believe that all hope is not lost. Hell, I’m usually the guy dragging as many people as I can to the shows, and buying multiple copies of their music and giving it to people to give to folks and get the word out! My wife and I were genuinely excited and happy for Sturgill when he got his Grammy nod! I LOVE seeing these guys (and gals) getting the attention they deserve. Hell, I was disappointed when I found the Sturgill show was sold out here in Atlanta at Terminal West, but was happy that he sold out a large venue! Screw the Hipsters and their elitism. Great music deserves to be heard…
December 10, 2014 @ 6:19 pm
No more rants? I must have missed something!
December 9, 2014 @ 6:50 am
Fond Object… heh heh. Very specific. Nicely done.
Also, I love the tag “christian volleyball leagues.” I’d be willing to bet that one doesn’t come up very often.
December 9, 2014 @ 7:21 am
Sorry I enjoy most of all the writing on here, but to me the whole hipster mockery has become so played. Elitist pricks are going to be apart of every scene. Just the whole laundry list of things like mustaches, pbr, vinly, tattoos has sort of become a hacky bag of tricks to get a laugh. While I know this article is meant for fun and people like your character Justin are douch bags. The people that constantly want to point out that every different person from them is a “hipster” has become some other social elitism club that is just has bad.
December 9, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
Yessir,
If you think that making fun of hipsters was the primary point, or even the secondary point of this post, then with all due respect you’re off the scent. Obviously thought, there was that element to this, and I’m not denying that. Overall, I would agree that making fun of hipsters at this point is outmoded and tired.
December 9, 2014 @ 2:31 pm
Trigger,
I guess I missed the point, even though I thought the article was really funny.
I only discovered hipsters about 2 years ago, so making fun of them is still amusing to me.
So what was the point?
December 9, 2014 @ 8:47 am
“If I want to listen to Waylon, I”™ll listen to Waylon. Not some modern-day impersonator”
Finally, a hipster says something I completely agree with.
December 10, 2014 @ 5:41 pm
Yeah. But Waylon is dead.
December 12, 2014 @ 8:31 am
Waylon NEVER dies. Good music lives forever.
December 9, 2014 @ 8:57 am
sadly, I almost believed this was real because I’ve heard this speech before unironically. or maybe it was ironically. who knows with hipsters.
December 9, 2014 @ 9:39 am
“At one of his shows I tried to talk to him about my tattoos, but he said he had to load his gear or something.”
Ha! Ha! That’s brilliant. Poor old Sturgill must have thought the fella’ was some sort of a predatory queer and quickly made his excuses and vamoosed!
December 9, 2014 @ 10:00 am
“I don”™t understand why people don”™t get that music sounds better when less people know about it. Watching good bands play to empty bar rooms and not be able to support themselves or their families fills me with a sense of elitism and pride…”
Ouch. 😀 That’s some good satire, Trig!
December 9, 2014 @ 10:08 am
I had no idea that Justin Rose was a traditional country fan, I thought he just played golf. I also wasn’t aware that he had grown such a wicked handlebar ‘stache.
December 9, 2014 @ 10:19 am
Hipsters aren’t into Sturgill. He actually has worked for living. Hipsters really can’t relate to that. Unless you consider bouncing from part time job to part time job selling hemp clothing or microbrew kits.
December 9, 2014 @ 11:03 am
Can somebody confirm whether this is satire or not? Seems a little too satirish to take seriously. I think he’s trying to make fun of hipsters or highlight how stupid it is that some people only like bands that aren’t popular.
December 9, 2014 @ 3:15 pm
It is satire. I would just call it fake news. He has that as a tag at the bottom. It has no place in my opinion sitting next to legitimate news stories. But it”™s his site. I won”™t bother ever trusting it again. I”™m sure this is funny for him. It harms the legitimacy of the entire site to me when this story sits beside Neil Reshen”™s death”¦etc
December 9, 2014 @ 4:52 pm
Actually I don’t think this is funny. I think there is a very serious subject I broached in this story. This is not CNN, though I do cover straight laced news in a straight laced manner when it is called for. Saving Country Music has always been offbeat and sarcastic and always will be, and I apologize if I caught certain folks off guard with this. Overall I believe this story has been well-received and understood by the majority of readers.
July 13, 2016 @ 9:54 pm
Man you had me from the git go and I love it…I was about fired up enough to get out my twelve gauge and see if I could find something I could pin to a tree and shoot..maybe a Luke Bryan album cover..haaaaa naaw just kidding.
A stellar piece of work man you are a talented writer. I have five fiction novels published internationally and that groove that you had going in that piece is always what I’m searching for when I got a decent story going. It kinda reminded me a little of Carl Hiaasen one of my favorite story tellers and writers. Keep it up man.
December 9, 2014 @ 11:10 am
Justin Rose? Come on Trigger, what do you have against semi-successful professional English golfers?
December 9, 2014 @ 12:24 pm
Hey Trigger,
Congratulations. The test of good satire is that about half the readers don’t get that it is satire.
December 9, 2014 @ 12:52 pm
this guy reminds me of a blogger that slammed Tom Waits really hard. at the end of the read it became very evident that he felt left out by all the “pretentious” Waits fans that he didn’t fit in with and didn’t so much dislike Tom waits as much as he did his success and his concrete cult following. I won’t for a minute pretend but he doesn’t borrowed heavily from Waylon’s style, but it’s lame that he can’t take the guy for what he’s worth and not merely his likeness to an older, long dead musician.
December 9, 2014 @ 1:15 pm
btw- since I’ve clearly been duped, I think you’re satirical news articles only work to hurt the credibility of savingcountrymusic.com. fake news, unless I’m on the onion website, makes me feel like I wasted my time. and proofread your writing, while I’m on the subject of things that i find annoying.
December 9, 2014 @ 2:06 pm
Sour grapes?
December 9, 2014 @ 2:22 pm
Rooster Clay,
I apologize if you felt misled. Sometimes fiction is a better way to illustrate a point than dry opinion, and I felt that was the case here. The credibility of savingcountrymusic.com has always been questionable, and so I don’t think this will move the needle either way, while some have been praising this as a great piece of writing. Unfortunately I don’t have the time/money to employ an editor, and though I know all the rules just fine, when you’re editing yourself, invariably you’re going to miss things. I hope that the effort and heart I put into my writing overrides such concerns, at least until I can get to the point where I can pay an editor who is willing to work on a 24 hour cycle like I do.
–Trigger
December 9, 2014 @ 2:34 pm
Why would you publish this as though it is actually real? I mean it is obvious there are assclowns running around like the guy you satired. However, the ONLY clue was the tag. On a smartphone that wasn”™t easy to see. This showed up under country music in my google news feed. Fake news shouldn”™t be doing that.
Yeah you duped me and like the hothead I am I shared this. Then all of those people got fooled too. Uncool.
December 9, 2014 @ 4:48 pm
“Why would you publish this as though it is actually real?”
I thought I explained this above.
“However, the ONLY clue was the tag.”
I respectfully disagree.
“This showed up under country music in my google news feed. Fake news shouldn”™t be doing that.”
I agree, but I have no control over your Google news feed, only the content of this site.
Again, Ia apologize if you feel you were mislead, but I really don’t feel anything of impropriety occurred here.
December 9, 2014 @ 3:54 pm
actually, it shows that like a guitar player who can play any style, you are able to write in different styles”¦.
not easy.
December 9, 2014 @ 5:21 pm
that was actually a very satisfying explanation, and all valid points on your part. I appreciate you’re taking the time to provide me with additional perspective. keep fighting the good fight, SCM is still one of two websites I visit daily.
”“Clay
December 9, 2014 @ 2:01 pm
Finally an article about Clint
December 9, 2014 @ 2:25 pm
Wrong.
I’ve never liked Sturgill, or even pretended to like him. I also think hipsters should be rounded up and put into a concentration camp.
That was cute though, nice try.
December 9, 2014 @ 3:52 pm
So who’s the person in the picture?
December 9, 2014 @ 4:45 pm
Hey everyone Clint back. WhooooopedEEEdooo
I am convinced that he is Sturgill on here poking the Bear LOL anyone else?
December 9, 2014 @ 5:47 pm
Anyone not getting the sarcasm simply by reading the article has their own reading skills to blame. Trig is clearly not trying to ‘dupe’ anyone, and his ‘fake news’ article are always blatantly sarcastic.
December 9, 2014 @ 6:41 pm
I honestly RARELY read this site so I’m not familiar with his style of sarcasm. I’ve read one or two articles a few years ago that were clearly sarcastic where he had the various types of listeners to country music and sarcastically talked about “has pickup on 35s never been in the mud”…. Etc. It was pretty obvious it was TOTAL sarcasm. I found it funny. I obviously thought to myself on this ” who cares what this hipster thinks and why is this an article” but as I read, it started angering me. I will tell you why. When it said the guy (who had a name, a believable one at that) said and I’m paraphrasing here, “I like hanging out hearing music at an empty bar where guys are worried about how they’re gonna provide for their family”. This comment and so many were so outlandish that you could say to me “JD you should have caught the sarcasm there”. Well if this were 10yrs ago I wouldn’t have believed the article. Now? With everything that goes on in the world when I see news shows or for instance Mark Dice videos, where a man on the street asks random college kids questions, or gets them to sign a document…these young people actually say and believe some insane shit. Nothing anyone says would be a surprise. There are people whose politics are so far left making someone feel guilty for actually being successful in anything would not be surprising. Outside of music, we live in a time of extreme class warfare and tribalism. It angered me more than it would average Joe because I’m actually a country singer that is not in the mainstream, am very similar to Sturgill in style but been doing it quite a bit longer. I’ve played WAY too many shows to an empty room and I am CONSTANTLY concerned about providing for my family. For instance I play Friday in Roanoke, VA with Josh Morningstar opening for me. He works his ass off just like I do and you’d have to ask him but I deal with those worries TOO MUCH. So perhaps I’m too close and emotionally tied to it that I focused on this bastard I was ready to go hunt down (not literally) instead of seeing it as just a fan. I understand that you cannot control my emotional response. The other reason I don’t read this site much is because of my friendship with who Triggerman thought wrote a song about shooting him…the MFN Gunslinger. That whole mess made me sick and I just stepped back. Anyway glad this was an entertaining piece for some of you.
December 9, 2014 @ 5:56 pm
Took me a paragraph to realize that this was a spoof. Nice, but why?
December 9, 2014 @ 6:15 pm
I love handlebar moustaches…especially the wax. It’s yummy.
Sturgill Simpson is on Late Night with Seth Meyers tonight.
December 9, 2014 @ 9:25 pm
If y’all want a stale-ass country news site, why not just hang out over at http://www.rollingstone.com/country where they specialize in the complete lack of sarcasm…and personality…and humor…and writing talent…and of anything of interest to anyone? They’ll be glad to have you – I’m sure. I hear they’re bringing Ann Coulter on as a correspondent. All the stale bread you could ask for.
December 10, 2014 @ 5:01 pm
Found it interesting that they named Sturgill Simpson’s “Metamodern Sounds” the #2 album of 2014, but gave the album a 1-paragraph, 3 1/2 of 5 star review:
http://www.rollingstone.com/music/albumreviews/metamodern-sounds-in-country-music-20140530
December 10, 2014 @ 11:06 pm
They’re ridiculous. I never liked them – even when they were allegedly cool.
December 9, 2014 @ 11:58 pm
So I’ve tried my best to “get” Sturgill . I’ve listened to the tunes from the album and I’ve seen a few live performances …the most recent being earlier this evening on Seth Meyers’ show . I know a lot of folks here think S.S. is the second coming and I don’t want to offend those folks . But , and I mean this in all seriousness , can someone explain to me what I’m missing ? I hear a so-so vocalist ( who seems to drop every third word in his delivery ..) a very generic sounding backup band ( not untalented or unlistenable by any means….just not very exciting or dynamic , to my ear) ..songs that while lyrically seem to have a different approach are, overall, forgettable musically/melodically . And damn if I can figure out whether Sturgill and the boys are even enjoying themselves up there . I mean ….they look like they’re just putting in time ata band practice ’til the pizza arrives ! Hmmmm ..?
December 10, 2014 @ 7:58 am
I like Stugill myself, but I get where you’re coming from. I think his appeal today is similar to the appeal of Dale Watson 15-20 years ago in that out of all the traditional artists out there, he’s the guy with the best chance of breaking through the mainstream bubble and possibly paving the way for other, more traditional artists to be heard.
December 10, 2014 @ 11:23 am
….”he”™s the guy with the best chance of breaking through the mainstream bubble and possibly paving the way for other, more traditional artists to be heard.”
This makes some sense to me , Tom. Real Country Music DOES need a ‘saviour ‘ to break through the BS but for me , Sturgill still seems the most unlikely candidate for the reasons I’ve mentioned above. Hence my head-shaking and query as to what it is I may not ‘get’ about him ?
December 10, 2014 @ 8:17 am
Albert, I still say you ought to get your own site going. You’re one of the few people on here with any perspective.
December 10, 2014 @ 11:38 am
I think Trigger covers ALL the ground that needs to be covered in a SCM site/blog and does it quite admirably . I’m pretty sure most of us that regularly frequent this site would agree with that. I’m quite certain he must function on a 25 hour clock in order to keep up the pace …..so “more power to him “, as we hippies used to cry . I spend an awful lot of my time writing music , teaching lessons and doing gigs and sessions – mostly country- and would have nowhere near the time required to properly administer or maintain a site as successfully as Trigger is .
Personally , I’m grateful for communities like this which , for all our slightly different takes on the situation , seem to speak with one voice when it comes to our raison d’etre . And others outside the community ARE taking note . So again , thanks to Trigger , his passion and his work ethic. And , of course , thanks to everyone who’s love of good music compels them to stop by and voice their thoughts . They are always engaging , enlightening , informative and inspiring .
December 11, 2014 @ 12:23 am
You were a hippie? I believe you mentioned a few months ago that you were 52 years old.
The two facts are not computing…
December 10, 2014 @ 8:46 am
It makes me feel guilty to admit it, but I feel the same way though perhaps I wouldn’t put it as harshly as you did. In particular, his delivery gets under my skin after a while. I think he makes good music, but I just feel out of the loop when people talk about him like the second coming. To me, Sunday Valley is still his best music.
December 10, 2014 @ 1:48 pm
Albert, did you ever listen to Sturgill’s old band, Sunday Valley? That was my first exposure to Sturgill, and likely led me to appreciate his solo stuff far more than if I’d never heard of his old band. I very much enjoy his two solo albums, but in all honesty, I think they pale in comparison to Sunday Valley’s one and only record. I understand that Sturgill wanted to go with a more traditional sound than Sunday Valley, but I have to somewhat agree that his backup band can be a bit boring at times. I mean, his guitarist is damn good, but I feel like Sturgill could play circles around him if he picke up the Tele again.
December 10, 2014 @ 3:40 pm
Hey ’92’ . Just been listening to some Sunday Valley stuff , as you suggested. I think I hear your point . They seemed to have some good live energy and yup – the boy can pick a tele. Never knew THAT ! Vocally , he’s certainly stands apart from your standard fare but I’d suggest its a acquired taste …which is just fine , of course. It seems his rough-round-the-edges vocals are appropriate to the raw but tight sound of that band . It’s honest music …its kickin’ live and SS does seem to know his way around lyric and phrasing . And that’s refreshing when compared to the auto-tuned, looped , copy/paste generic productions and songs mainstream country radio relentlessly subjects us to . Saying all of this , however , I can’t help but feel it may take something a bit more special than SS to turn the ship around .
December 11, 2014 @ 11:56 am
Not sure anyone can explain something they like to someone who doesn’t like it. I like the conversational tone of his singing, how he modulates his volume to convey feeling, and the way he sings through his nose. Yes, I like hearing people sing through the nose (when they do it well). It’s clear by the way he picks an acoustic guitar that he has a bluegrass background, and I like that he keeps some bluegrass influence in his country. I don’t agree that his backing band is boring. Laur Joamets is one of the best telecaster pickers in country music right now, though I’d put several others at a similar level. His drummer and bass guitar player keep it simple, but they keep good time and everything is in the pocket (something missing from a lot of modern country music). Then again, if you’re looking for drum and bass country music isn’t the place to find it.
The only place I agree is that his songwriting isn’t that great. With the exception of a few songs (sarah, cut the sails, water under the well, hero, pan bowl) I think he does better with covers. To me the best country is three chords and the truth, shakespeare for the common man. With his abstract stuff, Sturgill gets away from that, though it is creative and others love it.
Much of the rest is preference. I like the conversational tone, the mumbling, the wailing, the modulations in volume that put a little extra feeling into it. He’s not a great vocalist, technically speaking, but he’s a unique vocalist and a stylist. I’ll take that over a talented vocalist who oversings every song.
January 1, 2017 @ 10:07 pm
Good description. I’m not seeing it either. “People want a savior….”
December 10, 2014 @ 12:48 am
Hipsters ruin everything….
December 10, 2014 @ 10:25 am
“Feeling like I”™m part of an exclusive scene fills me with a sense of self-importance.” So basically he’s just upset that other people know who Sturgill Simpson is now, and it’s taking away from his idea that he was important when he thought he was the only one to know about him. He didn’t give one good reason against Sturgill, other than his success?? I wonder if he’s going to be upset that people actually read his words, and you didn’t keep them too yourself.
December 10, 2014 @ 5:51 pm
Fiction is fun but here is a true story. A buddy and his buddy were at pickathon and brought Sturgill some Whisky and he kindly declined explaining that it was not so kind to him anymore. Then they proceeded to smoke out some other band members (vaporizer maybe?) and it came to Sturgill and he joined in and wouldn’t you know, got too stoned. And then when the show started he couldn’t quite get it right with the band and walked off that little stage before the show even started. He apologized before he left but Oregon KB was to blame. I don’t know why a person would try to get a guy fucked up before he went on stage but my buddy did not get that performance. Poetic justice? The reality is, if Trigger is not in the crowd singing the lyrics like he wrote the song loud enough so I must hear him, wax that mustache dude, I don’t care.
April 7, 2016 @ 2:22 pm
Burning man is soooooo over.
November 17, 2016 @ 1:51 pm
sounds like your mad…pick up a guitar lets hear what ya got bud!