Sturgill Simpson Featured on HBO’s “The Leftovers”
Sturgill Simpson’s cover song of When In Rome’s 1987 hit “The Promise” was featured on Sunday night’s (11-29) episode of HBO’s critically-acclaimed new series The Leftovers. Based on a novel written by Tom Perrotta, The Leftovers is set three years after a worldwide event called the “Sudden Departure” causes 140 million people on earth to disappear. In the aftermath, traditional religion begins to break down, and cults emerge. The show is in its second season, and is set in the fictional town of Jarden, TX.
In the 19th episode of the series called “Ten Thirteen,” actress Liv Tyler playing Megan Abbott walks into a Texas honky tonk, and is seen slow dancing with Tommy Garvey, played by Chris Zylka. As they exchange dialogue, Simpson’s “The Promise” is the song they’re swaying to. Interestingly, Liv Tyler is the daughter of Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler, who’s taken is own dalliance into “country” (cough) music lately.
Fans of Sturgill Simpson who recognized the song quickly took to social media (and smattered Saving Country Music with emails) showing their excitement for the opportunity to hear Sturgill on a national TV stage. This certainly isn’t the first time a non-mainstream country or roots artist has been featured on a cable show. Sons of Anarchy, Breaking Bad, and others regularly selected worthy songs from lesser-known artists in lieu of more popular songs for their soundtracks.
Many of the creators and producers of these involved and more distinguished television series are fans of these lesser-known artists, and look for opportunities to plant Easter eggs for independent listeners. As non-mainstream music continues to increase in market share, such occurrences are happening more frequently on cable shows and elsewhere. On November 8th during a Sunday Night Football game on NBC, the Turnpike Troubadours song “7 & 7” played briefly.
November 30, 2015 @ 11:50 am
His voice is a good fit for this show. I think he sounds a bit haunted and trippy and this show is definitely both of those.
November 30, 2015 @ 11:55 am
The video was going to cause me to have a seizure if I watched another second of it… This song sounds like Sturgill sneaked in and recorded it using the same instrumentation, while Elvis was on the toilet after cutting “In the Ghetto.”
November 30, 2015 @ 12:01 pm
Good thing? Bad thing??
November 30, 2015 @ 12:16 pm
I like Elvis. I like Andy. So, its fine and dandy with me….
November 30, 2015 @ 9:10 pm
I actually laughed out loud on that one. Comments like that are why I love this site. I feel among my people..
November 30, 2015 @ 12:14 pm
You know the first thing I thought of when I heard it last night was, “Wonder if this will get noticed in SCM?” et voila c’est ici!!! Well duh!
And don’t just love Iris Dement’s “Let the Mystery Be” as the theme music too.
November 30, 2015 @ 12:21 pm
Meant to say “And don’t YOU just love…” I certainly do.
November 30, 2015 @ 12:36 pm
Well, since I get by on a bloggers salary, I don’t subscribe to HBO or cable. I have to use that money for things like, I don’t know, food. But I certainly received a lot of heads up from readers about it. Don’t mean to be following Sturgill’s every move, but it seemed the was enough interest in it to remark on it.
November 30, 2015 @ 4:25 pm
Trigger, if your income is so low that you are having difficulty even affording food, I would suggest applying for Food Stamps. Yes, it only pays about $5 a day, but it can certainly help.
Think of it as a loan. When you hit it rich as a big-time reporter, you will get the opportunity to pay it back in taxes.
Or you could provide the readers with a means of donating money.
November 30, 2015 @ 5:58 pm
Screw that.
I’m not having trouble feeding myself. I was being figurative. I’d rather starve than take food stamps.
November 30, 2015 @ 6:03 pm
Shhh. Democrats will hate you. How much do you make per year?
November 30, 2015 @ 10:02 pm
hiYUN,
Democrats don’t harbor negative feelings toward those who refuse to take Food Stamps for themselves. Their problem is with those who want to take away the option of Food Stamps away from the poor and the working-class.
November 30, 2015 @ 3:23 pm
The Leftovers is incredible television all around, but their choices of music are especially inspired. That piano cover of Where is my Mind by the Pixies is just fantastic, and a few episodes ago, there was a country flavored version of the show’s main theme song (The Twins Prague – Max Richter) with some very nice steel guitar.
November 30, 2015 @ 2:37 pm
Awesome! Love to see this stuff on big TV shows like this. This seems to be a trend in a lot of new shows like Breaking Bad, SOA (as mentioned in the article) and the Walking Dead.
November 30, 2015 @ 2:44 pm
How can they leave me out? B!tch.
November 30, 2015 @ 9:15 pm
That’s Crazy x 10. Bitch.
November 30, 2015 @ 6:25 pm
I don’t have HBO. I don’t even have TV, but visit relatives who do. This is just a taste of what is to come for Sturgill. I think he’ll have a monster 2016. Don’t know much about his family, but Sturgill and Fraley families are from the same area as certain others, before migrating to E KY. I apologize for my impaired typing _ hotel has free all you can drink wine. I rarely drink, but… Stumbling. Typing. Something. I think…
November 30, 2015 @ 7:13 pm
The show has good taste in music the theme song is by Iris Dement
November 30, 2015 @ 7:31 pm
that ole gwin steffany is a home recker . she dont have no shame.
November 30, 2015 @ 7:59 pm
That’s cool, pretty decent show used to watch it when I worked out of town a while. Hope the best for sturgill, hopefully all this attention wont stifle his creativity. As long as he doesn’t come out with a country album about the flat earth theory(although I can already picture all the metaphors).
December 1, 2015 @ 1:21 am
“Life Ain’t Fair…..” Was playing in the background in a country bar in the season premier of last season’s Criminal Minds episode.
December 1, 2015 @ 6:14 pm
Come on Trigger seriously now, you gotta do some investigative journalism and get some inside tip on why Sturgill’s new album has not been released yet. With the momentum he gained from touring late 2014 and early in 2015 along with some mainstream recognition, I kinda feel like he’s missed his window perhaps? I know you gotta strike when the iron is hot and I feel like his album would’ve been better dropped several months ago. I don’t give a damn about hot irons I’m a fan for life but dang It’s killing me to know.
December 1, 2015 @ 9:05 pm
I’ve respectfully asked around about the album, and I don’t have any more insight than what I’ve shared. Usually you see murmerings here and there about projects, even when folks are trying to keep them under wraps. But I’ve not seen or heard anything. Part of the problem is it all moved to Atlantic, and Saving Country Music’s tentacles don’t reach there, yet at least. What I can tell you is the people who are in a position to worry about if this album is taking too long to come out are not worried about it. I think they still think there’s still some more tread on Metamodern’s tires. Sturgill just announced a string of solo shows in Europe for January. Perhaps that’s a precursor to retooling and starting the next phase toward a new record. We’ll see.
August 18, 2016 @ 2:58 pm
Just saw the scene via Netflix DVD’s last night. Amazing voice, would have loved to see him perform it live! I hope this guy tours and makes it to the southwest.