San Francisco Giants Crank Sturgill Simpson After World Series Victory
On Wednesday night, baseball fans were treated to a World Series Game 7 pitting the Kansas City Royals against the visiting San Francisco Giants. San Francisco starting pitcher Madison Bumgarner came out of the bullpen and pitched the final innings just three days after pitching a complete game to help secure the Giants their third World Series victory in five years in what many are calling a historic pitching performance. Bumgarner was later named the World Series MVP.
After the game, the party raged and the champagne poured inside the San Francisco clubhouse as the team celebrated the victory, and according to multiple witnesses, surging country music artist Sturgill Simpson found his way onto the victory soundtrack.
Though hip-hop was playing when the players were giving each other the boisterous champagne shower as the cameras were rolling, according to Brian Murphy and Paul McCaffrey of the Murph and Mac sports talk morning show on San Francisco’s KNBR 680 AM, Sturgill Simpson was the preferred choice of one San Francisco pitcher. The radio hosts were in Kansas City covering the World Series and the locker room celebration, and told the story this morning (10-30) on their radio show of how pitcher Jake Peavy hijacked the stereo and started playing Sturgill. Murph and Mac said it was new music to them, but that it made them fast fans.
A relative unknown just a few years ago, Sturgill Simpson’s recent release Metamodern Sounds in Country Music has become both a critical and commercial success, defying the odds for an independent artist who receives virtually no mainstream radio play. Relying mostly on word of mouth, his music which offers a counterbalance to the current trends of mainstream country music has won fans over across the country, and kept his music in the Billboard and iTunes charts well after his latest album’s May 13th release. Sturgill was named the Americana Music Association’s Emerging Artist of the Year in September.
On Tuesday, Sturgill played The Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon. He also recently sat down with Joe Rogan for an extended interview, which also stimulated an upsurge in Sturgill interest.
October 30, 2014 @ 2:39 pm
They’ve got impeccable taste! ^__^
October 30, 2014 @ 2:41 pm
There ws a video that Engine 145 linked to a while back where Jake Peavy and one of the Giants coaches were playing guitars and singing Pancho and Lefty. Good taste, indeed.
October 31, 2014 @ 5:29 pm
3rd base coach Tim flannery who has his own well respected band Tim flannery and the lunatic fringe. He sang the anthem with bob weir of the grateful dead during the world series.
October 30, 2014 @ 2:51 pm
Nice!
Seems like even-numbered years are lucky for the Giants.
October 30, 2014 @ 3:18 pm
Sturgill announced today that the album is #18 on the iTunes charts 6 months on.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:41 pm
Just looked, #5 not #18. Maybe #18 over its life on the charts?
Gotta think Fallon, the Opry, and Ryman all within 3 or 4 days all helped the latest surge.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:50 pm
He posted it today and said #19 (my mistake). My guess would be lifetime.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:54 pm
Yep. It’s currently #19 on the all-genre chart and number #5 on the country chart.
iTunes also currently has ‘Metamodern’ featured on the front page of the music store under the heading “Country Hits.” Sturgill is actually featured first, followed by Luke Bryan, Eric Church, Miranda Lambert, Dierks Bentley, and so on.
October 30, 2014 @ 5:00 pm
For comparison’s sake, ‘Metamodern’ is five places ahead of the Little Big Town album that was released last week.
I know iTunes sales aren’t everything, but… dang, that’s pretty crazy.
October 30, 2014 @ 5:12 pm
#19 All Genre on iTunes
#5 In Country on iTunes
On Billboard, which is a more balanced metric (at least for albums), it is #20. That’s beating Brad Paisley, Cole Swindell, and Dustin Lynch.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:03 pm
The music speaks for itself….good to see him get some recognition.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:31 pm
This does nothing to lessen my bitterness towards the Giants today. Go Royals.
October 30, 2014 @ 5:59 pm
yup. good for Sturgill, but the Giants can eat a richard.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:41 pm
Good for them. Sturgills music is a great choice and his new album is incredible.
October 30, 2014 @ 4:42 pm
Music choice was 100% Madison Bumgarners choice. That boy is about as country as it gets.
October 31, 2014 @ 5:31 pm
Peavy is just as country as madbum. For sure.
October 30, 2014 @ 5:09 pm
To be specific, Murph and Mac referred to Simpson as “badass”. Just like Bumgarner.
October 30, 2014 @ 6:02 pm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_gt8qUj8Uts
October 31, 2014 @ 2:37 pm
He’s really good.
Thanks
October 30, 2014 @ 6:15 pm
I was at Game 7. Heartbroken Royals fan….
October 30, 2014 @ 7:32 pm
The iTunes chart position of the album is so damn hopeful! I just saw him open for Isbell on Sunday at The Ryman ”“ Phenomenal.
October 31, 2014 @ 1:55 am
I was there too! Talk about creating a “buzz”…
October 30, 2014 @ 8:19 pm
Love my SF Giants! Buncha misfits! 🙂
October 31, 2014 @ 5:32 pm
Yes! Yes! Yes!
October 30, 2014 @ 9:48 pm
Figures it was Peavy who did it. He’s a good country player himself, and when he played “Pancho and Lefty” for the radio morning guys, he made sure to mention that it was a Townes song.
October 30, 2014 @ 11:33 pm
I am a big Royals fan, so needless to say I am disappointed but awesome for them to play some good real music in their dugout! Sturgill is the man!
October 31, 2014 @ 7:13 am
I discovered Sturgill because of your blog, and I’m so thankful! He just announced that his tour is coming through Boston in February… can’t wait to see live.
October 31, 2014 @ 8:52 am
I don’t know if this was mentioned here previously but Sturgill was on the Joe Rogan podcast for a THREE hour conversation…really good stuff there: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2KP8-zV9mc
October 31, 2014 @ 9:28 am
Make no mistake, that SF pitching staff, the starters at lease, Peavy, Bumgarner and Tim Hudson are hillbillies!!! Would love to party with those 3 after WS title. No surprise Peavy was blasting Sturgill.
October 31, 2014 @ 9:29 am
Deer trigg, were u gonna get around to riten about litle bigtown playin on the tonites show.? they did a reel good job jimy fallen was reel empresed I could tel. sturgil did good to. I no u dont like lil bigtown that much but u reely should give some of there deep,cuts a chanse. an the tonites show is a big deel for cuntry music. To country acts back to bak. hope yall have a good weak end. Role tide!
October 31, 2014 @ 10:32 am
Roll Tide? Did you forget that you’re from Pine Bluff, Lil Dale? You some kind of frontrunner?
October 31, 2014 @ 11:51 am
no sir. no front runnin here. just a loyal fan of the gratest sec football coach in the histery of the confarense and colege football periud. nick saben. nick saben is like the tim macgraw of college football. tuff as hell an beter then every body else. will muschanp is like the erik church of colege footbal cos hes tuff as hell to. and jimbo fisher is like the eratik cocaine days gorge jones of colege foot ball.
October 31, 2014 @ 10:11 am
This is pretty cool (even though I was rooting for KC). Way to break the “dumb jock” stereotype by not putting on FGL, Chase Rice, etc.
November 3, 2014 @ 5:20 am
I just bought Metamodern Sounds. It’s ok but I liked High Top Mountain better.
November 6, 2014 @ 12:31 am
I was just on Amazon, and Sturgill’s “Metamodern Sounds In Country Music” is listed at #1 in the category of best sellers in “Today’s Country”….ahead of Blake, Taylor and ugh…FGL. “High Top Mountain” is listed at #17 in the same category.