Sturgill Simpson Isn’t Being Outlaw. He’s Just Being an Asshole
This story has been updated.
The arena tour pairing Sturgill Simpson with Tyler Childers commences today (2-21) in Birmingham, Alabama, and ahead of the tour, Sturgill Simpson has given a slew of high profile interviews where he’s basically gone scorched earth, discounting his former producer Dave Cobb, fellow Dave Cobb-produced artist Chris Stapleton, his current label Elektra, his previous label Thirty Tigers, as well as many of his fans, his previous persona, his debut solo album High Top Mountain, The Grammy Awards, the entire music industry as a whole, and his give a shits about the upcoming tour that folks have paid their hard earned money to attend.
“We’re going on a damn-near sold out arena tour. This is literally the first time I’ve lifted a finger to fucking promote the record or the tour,” he starts off the interview with Steven Hyden of Uproxx in an article posted on Thursday (2-20).
But this is not true at all.
Sturgill made multiple public appearances and gave numerous interviews ahead of the release of his latest record Sound & Fury and this tour, including an appearance on the biggest podcast in the world, the Joe Rogan Experience on September 30th, 2019 where he announced the tour, an appearance at an anime convention on July 21st of 2019 where he announced the album, and appearance on the Beats 1 podcast with Zane Lowe where he debuted the first song on the album, among other appearances. Sturgill also played a series of club shows on the east and west coast. He also appeared for 1 1/2 hours on the Trillbilly Worker’s Podcast that was released on Sunday (2-16), but perhaps he recording it after the Uproxx interview.
But that’s beside the point. It’s what Sturgill said in the Uproxx interview, and some of what he said on the Trillbilly podcast that has everyone stirred.
Perhaps first and foremost to point out is that it appears Sturgill Simpson is very much lukewarm about this upcoming tour, and the one he played previously, and the new record he’s touring behind for that matter.
As we proceed here, please understand everything is being paraphrased. I’m not going to plagiarize the Uproxx interview, so go read it for the full context.
“So, I got talked into going out, playing a bunch of shows in 2017, when I was already burnt-out and exhausted. I wish I could give anybody’s money back who came to those shows, man, because my head was so far out of that … The worst part now is we made the record and then I spent a year and a half going back to Japan and making the film. So, now I’m completely burnt out on the record. I literally can’t listen to it … It’s very weird now, wrapping my head around the fact that I have to go out and sing these songs every night for 52 shows, because I’m so far out of that headspace that I almost can’t even remember how I got there … I just know that it’s going to be really hard to connect with people that are sitting 300 yards away. I like theaters. You can still rock a theater out. But to me, as a guy who spent so much of his musical life in smaller clubs, it’s going to take me a week or two to wrap my head around.”
So if Sturgill Simpson is ho hum on playing live and in arenas, why did he book the tour? Sturgill also revealed during this specific topic that he had fallen back into substance abuse in 2017, and that he doesn’t ever plan to tour again, at least at this moment. He also later softens his stance on the upcoming tour, a bit at least.
“So, this tour is really a celebration of the music and the fans and everything that’s happened, especially the band. Some way for us to go out and show this music and the creation the respect it deserves. But then, I don’t know that I’ll ever do this again.”
– – – – – – –
Sturgill Simpson then says of his major label deal, “I don’t talk to the record company. It’s really that simple. Or, maybe if you don’t want to be on a record label anymore, you make a record they can’t market, then you get them to spend a million bucks on an animation film and refuse to promote it, and leave them holding this giant un-recouped debt. Maybe the bean counters will make a decision for me. I can go back to just doing it myself better than they do. That’s what I’ve learned. Because they don’t know what the fuck to do with me. I’m done. I’m done. Unless they drop me, I’m done. I’m not going to give them anything ever again, so I guess I’m done.”
But this isn’t an “outlaw” move, this is an asshole move. Throughout this interview, Sturgill Simpson talks about how money has corrupted the music system. But he himself admits to using his major label deal to abscond with a huge signing bonus to pay his way through life, and then purposely dogging their efforts to recoup their investment. This isn’t Big Machine Records. His current label Elektra Records is the same imprint The Highwomen, Brandi Carlile, and Anderson East are on. And Sturgill Simpson taking the big payday and then not trying to live up to his end of the bargain is only going to discourage the label from signing up-and-coming talent in the future who may burn them just like Sturgill Simpson did here. They believed in him, and in his career and expressions, funded them to Sturgill’s benefit, and now his attitude is to tell them to fuck off.
Sturgill Simpson later says, “I’m done working for them. I’m done giving babies away. I equate it to, if you owned a fucking dry cleaners, and it took off, and somebody showed up like, ‘Hey, we want to buy your dry cleaners. You can sit here and run the counter, but we’ll keep all the money.’ Like, what other business model would anybody fucking think that makes sense in? And honestly, I don’t really see what they’ve done that I couldn’t have done myself, probably better. They haven’t delivered on any of their promises, so I’m fucking done there. But they wanted me to promote the tour, so here we are.”
He admits earlier in the interview that he conned them into making a million-dollar anime film and then refused to promote it. So really, who is not living up to their promises here? Most certainly as a major label, Elektra probably is difficult to work with, but Sturgill appears to be provocative here without a lot of motive. He’s speaking candidly, so if Elektra took advantage of him somehow, he certainly would tell us. But it seems to be more about the philosophical approach of the music business as opposed to any specific beef Sturgill Simpson has with the label.
Numerous other asshole moves come up in the interview, including downgrading Chris Stapleton, his record Traveller, and the organic nature of his success.
“But a major label, the people that worry about bottom lines and quarterly reports, they’ll never understand why my career really happened, because that’s not the world they navigate. The following year ‘Traveller’ happened, the Chris Stapleton breakthrough, which was very much an insider thing. Chris is a very talented guy, but that happened because they directly benefited from it.”
He then lashes out at Dave Cobb, who produced both of Sturgill Simpson’s first two records, along with Chris Stapleton’s Traveller, which was directly inspired by Sturgill’s Metamodern Sounds.
“I don’t really ever want to work with a producer again, having done it and knowing what a struggle it can be. Because they all have their agenda, which is trying to make money or sell this commercialized version of what they think you are. [Dave Cobb] worked on ‘Metamodern’ but those songs were carved out when we were on the road, with my band. He got all the credit and career from it, but that’s my album. Anybody that’s heard my last few records, I think it’s pretty fucking clear.”
Continuing, Sturgill also takes additional swipes at Dave Cobb, Chris Stapleton, and discounts his debut solo album, High Top Mountain.
“In that instance [with High Top Mountain], I definitely felt like there wasn’t really much interest in who I was really wanting to be. So, we made a Waylon Jennings record, and I’ve been trying to shake that shit off ever since. I can’t fucking listen to it. It’s so slick and clean … I can play those songs live and still love them, but I can’t listen to that record. It was a commercial record disguised as a traditional album, and to my ears, it’s just too fucking safe. So, with ‘Metamodern,’ we got real unsafe. I mean, to my eyes, the ‘Traveller’ record Cobb did with Stapleton was a commercial country record disguised as a traditional record. Chris is a phenomenal talent, but live it’s just so much more pleasing to me than what sonically that record was.”
Sturgill also took on the Grammy Awards, and inadvertently, his original label Thirty Tigers.
“All that Grammy shit, that was [the label] trying to get return on investment. I would have never been nominated for Album Of The Year if I put that album out on Thirty Tigers, and I know that for a fucking fact because I know those secret committees exist, and that’s all them trying to service themselves. It really had nothing to do with me … It’s all horseshit. It’s so unimportant.”
A couple of points of clarification are needed here. First, Sturgill Simpson won Grammy Awards. He was carrying his Grammy for Best Country Album when he busked out in front of the CMA Awards in 2017, so it must have meant something to him at the time. But now that same award is meaningless to him, as is the organization that awarded it.
As for these secret committees, it’s a separate issue to be broached in the future, but the reason the members are secret is so that the industry does not lobby them for favors or votes, same as the decision makers for the Country Music Hall of Fame, and many other institutions. Is there corruption in the Grammy system? There likely is. But there is a specific reason the decision makers are kept secret, and it’s to guard against corruption, and for good reason.
As for downgrading the ability for Thirty Tigers artists to attain Grammy Awards, that’s just untrue. Jason Isbell alone has four of them on Thirty Tigers, and Patty Griffin just won one a few weeks ago for Best Folk Album released on Thirty Tigers. Does Sturgill get nominated for the all genre Album of the Year Grammy without a major label deal? Perhaps not. But he also did not win that. Also, Thirty Tigers is one of the few labels that allows artists to own their own masters, and allows artists to leave any time. That is how Sturgill Simpson was able to leave and sign his major deal. If Sturgill thinks the music industry was so evil, why did he leave Thirty Tigers in the first place? Perhaps he’s trying to allude that Thirty Tigers isn’t evil enough to manipulate the Grammy system. But in the effort, he also makes it seem like the label doesn’t have any muscle for its artists when it comes to awards, which simply isn’t true. Jason Isbell was also nominated for a CMA Award on Thirty Tigers—something we thought we’d never see.
But arguably the most troubling comments from Sturgill were not included in the Uproxx interview. They come from his interview on the Trillbillies Podcast, where he admitted that during the Metamodern Sounds era, when he called out the ACMs for disrespecting Merle Haggard, and other such moments, it was all marketing. In other words, he never believed in defending the roots of country music. He was just playing into the image he thought the public wanted from him to sell records.
“If they’re gonna make me be that guy, then I’m just gonna fucking be that guy,” he said of his “Outlaw” attitude of that time. “Because there’s money to be made there too. So I did, I just started taking pisses and shitting every time I opened my mouth, really out of self-amusement.”
In many respects, it was these words and actions by Sturgill Simpson that had Saving Country Music awarding him the Artist of the Year not once, but twice. Now he’s admitting it was just to make money, which Sturgill says is the evil of the music industry? Is all the quotes we’re seeing from the Uproxx and Trillbillies interviews just marketing too?
The saddest part is that many will come to Sturgill Simpson’s defense, praising him as a badass, and a tell-it-like-it-is misanthrope who is refreshing in his honesty. But that’s only if you buy into the idea this isn’t an element of marketing in itself.
Where is the gratefulness from Sturgill Simpson for being able to make a good living and provide for his family through music, which is a privilege, and one that Sturgill Simpson has benefited from more than 99% of other working musicians, including to the point where he can go scorched earth, and doesn’t have to worry about the ramifications because his mortgage is paid on his 150-acre ranch with a house on top of a mountain that was paid for by the same industry he says screwed him over? Where’s the appreciation for all the people who got him to this point, including Dave Cobb and Thirty Tigers who worked with him when he was a nobody, the Grammy Awards which shined a spotlight on him and his career, and the country fans who helped fund his dreams, and the folks who bought a ticket to one of his upcoming shows hoping for a good time?
No doubt that the music business is an evil industry, and Saving Country Music was founded on that very fact. But by attacking Dave Cobb, downgrading Chris Stapleton and Thirty Tigers, lashing out at The Grammy Awards and Elektra Records which bankrolled his album and anime obsession, Sturgill Simpson is burning his own village down. And sure, there are some elements of truth in what he’s saying, which he is exploiting for his own self-gratitude. But after his revelation that he never really gave a shit about country music when he stood up for it, and that it was all an element of marketing, it’s hard to take anything this guy is saying seriously.
This “shitting out of his mouth” to use Sturgill’s own words is not something to be condoned, neither is taking a ho hum attitude towards a tour that fans who don’t have the luxury of telling their bosses off will be spending their hard earned money to attend.
This is all disappointing, and very injurious to the grassroots side of the music industry.
FloridaCracker
February 22, 2020 @ 8:09 am
At the Birmingham show last night Sturgill played the first three or so songs from Sound and Fury, looks at everyone and says, “Y’all think I don’t get into this? I call that shit marketing.” He may be cynical but people can’t take anything he says serious. If you haven’t bought a ticket yet then I don’t know what you’re waiting on, sure it was way more rock than anything but that Birmingham show was the best live musical experience I’ve ever seen…. and i’ve seen Dead and Co twice…. in Atlanta. If Sturgill is sick of it all, he did a damn good impression of someone that can’t live without it.
Jack Williams
February 22, 2020 @ 8:18 am
Well, that’s good to hear. I’m seeing him three weeks from tomorrow in DC.
How was Tyler?
augasman
February 22, 2020 @ 8:46 am
Waaaayyyy better the Sturgill. I left after the first two garbage songs of SS. It was unbearable
FloridaCracker
February 22, 2020 @ 10:37 am
Childers was damn good. His band was impressive to say the least.
Scott
February 22, 2020 @ 8:51 am
Elektra Records and Uproxx (the source of the “inflammatory” interview) are both owned by Warner Music Group. He’s cited Kanye as a “marketing genius”, and has mentioned that when he was starting out, he would post inflammatory comments on Facebook re: traditional country vs bro country to get reactions from people. He’s always known exactly what he was doing and then postured like it’s all been thrust upon him. Doing the same thing with the acting career. “A casting director reached out to me so…” BS. He pulled whatever strings he could to get into the acting world. He wants all this. He’s thirsty. It is funny to finally hear him admit he ripped Waylon Jennings to break through though. Never thought he’d actually come out and say it. lol
Jack Williams
February 22, 2020 @ 9:20 am
Yes, his saying “I made a Waylon Jennings record” felt like a “saying the quiet part out loud” moment. I can see those people around here who called him a Waylon impersonator smiling at that one. Also, those that mocked his SNL “punk rock” performance, which I still think was great.
Jacob
February 22, 2020 @ 9:59 am
Yep
ZosoFan
February 29, 2020 @ 3:13 pm
He didn’t miss a note either. Whole band sounded great at that Bham show. Tyler was great too. I don’t think the problem was ever the live performances. I think he’s just fed up with the system, the stresses of being on tour, the obvious temptation to return to substance abuse that’s gonna be hitting him while he’s on the road, and anyone who tries to put him in a box, including traditional country music fans. A decent amount of those types of fans left after Tyler. Now Sturgill is doing this more progressive/psychedelic rock type album and I say let him. I may like Metamodern and High Top more, but I loved ASGTE too. And it was his unique twist on Waylon type country that made me like him in the first place. So I say let him continue to be unique, and who knows, if he feels free enough to express himself and not constrained by his fans to only make one type of music, he may just come full circle and make another country type album that will blow our fucking socks off.
the pistolero
February 22, 2020 @ 8:27 am
I would say the term “tortured genius” comes to mind, but that may well be giving Sturgill way too much credit. I like the dude’s music; High Top Mountain and Metamodern Sounds in Country Music were a couple of the best albums of the 2010s. And it’s fine if he doesn’t like them, can’t listen to them, whatever. But the whole tone he projects here left me wondering, “if this is how you feel, dude, why the hell did you even bother after ASGTE at the latest?” In fact, with his comments on High Top Mountain and how he felt like there wasn’t much interest in what he wanted to do, why did he even go through with it? It sounds like he’d have been a lot happier if he had, I don’t know, found a record label who was actually interested in what he wanted to do. More to the point, it sounds like he was just going along to get along. Which is fine, I guess, but don’t bitch about the result. Put another way, it sounds like he made HTM for commercial appeal at the behest of the label. Which is also fine, but he doesn’t have any business casting aspersions on Stapleton or anyone else for doing the same. The Ryan Adams comparisons are quite apt here.
LBoogie
February 25, 2020 @ 10:17 am
I think what might help everyone that is attacking his past decisions in regards to labels and albums, etc, is to remember that he was new to the business, shit happens fast, and just like real life, sometimes you don’t know the truth about things until you feel the repercussions of the lies.
Jacob W.
February 22, 2020 @ 9:26 am
Hate to say it, but a bunch of us told you so. We saw him punking out right from the get go. He thinks he’s Kurt Cobain lol. One thing, he is right about the Chris Stapleton album. Lol
Garrett Bona
February 22, 2020 @ 9:26 am
That’s true, man a lot of my favorites have been with them. I get what you’re saying.
Gina
February 22, 2020 @ 9:41 am
Honestly, this is starting to remind me a little of Sinead O’Connor. I don’t think he has the same mental health issues, but she pushed the same self destruct button when her career was on an upswing. I don’t think he expected to be as famous as he is, and may be regretting it. Who knows.
Jimmy Row
February 22, 2020 @ 9:45 am
Wow Sturg. Go fuck yourself with a 2×4. Glad I gave up on you when sailor came out. Metamodern is a great album, be proud of it you wanker.
BTW you were a dick in Sacramento on your metamodern tour and apparently that wasn’t a one off night.
Matt Merritt
February 22, 2020 @ 10:03 am
Sounds like Sturgill might be back on the pills or something. What the hell is up with this guy?
Emmons Day
February 22, 2020 @ 10:14 am
Art/money/marketing. Pay your money and take it in. It’s disheartening, and the way it’s always been, and the driving force. I understand growth and changing opinions on what we’ve done in our lives, conflicting motivations. Something happens perceived to be organic and true and honest, capitalism packages it and resells it and copies it until it’s thoroughly dead and no longer sellable. That’s the way it works- take the money and run is the best move in my opinion. Stapleton and Timberlake just appeared together onstage with a publicist orgy naturally following? Of course he ripped off Waylon- that’s what country musicians do- that’s the damn tradition- learn the licks sing in the styles pretend to be whatever it is that sells, highlight being poor and rural and working hard once or twice or whatever the flavor of the day It’s fun! I really like this version of Simpson- accusing him of letting down his fans is disingenuous- he’s an employee with a shit boss in a dubious industry and has reached a point where he doesn’t have to wear the chicken suit on the corner anymore- he’s not built to Travis Tritt the same hits for the rest of his life. Also I’m not into his new music.
Mike
February 24, 2020 @ 7:59 am
“that’s the damn tradition- learn the licks sing in the styles pretend to be whatever it is that sells, highlight being poor and rural and working hard once or twice or whatever the flavor of the day It’s fun! ” — May I steal this? XD
Legit props to Tritt, spikeyhair from Sugar Ray, and anyone else who can sing their hits exactly the same for the rest of their lives.
Trigger does this mean the site is shutting down? The ordained Savior of Country Music is wearing no clothes!
BlindBoy
February 22, 2020 @ 12:47 pm
He is what he is but I just hope he doesn’t pull Tyler Childers down with him.
Keith Branstetter
February 22, 2020 @ 2:24 pm
Watch Tyler, buy Tyler merch, then walk out before ass hole comes out
SMarco
February 22, 2020 @ 3:33 pm
He sounds like a prick, a prick who no longer makes music I’m interested in hearing.
the pistolero
February 22, 2020 @ 4:52 pm
Also, if Sturgill’s done, if this is the way he’s gonna be, then, well, whatever. So be it. There are a shit-ton of other artists & bands out there (not just country) deserving of our finite funds who are making great music, like what they do, and don’t feel the need to throw foul, faux-edgy, pretentious temper tantrums and shit all over the folks who helped them get where they are whenever someone sits down to interview them. Marketing stunt or not, it’s still just really off-putting.
nick
February 22, 2020 @ 5:22 pm
We saw him in ’17 in Atlanta, he completely phoned the concert in. No interaction with the audience, and worst of all, no horns. Horns are such a huge part of his “A sailors guide to earth” that it sounded like a cover band.
Even if he didn’t leave the genre, I won’t give him my hard earned money again.
Trice
February 28, 2020 @ 6:11 am
Sweetwater? Cause he rocked that shit out. I mean c’mon dude, he enlisted the motha fuckin dap kings for that album. Cant expect a man to pay to take a brass band on festy tour.
Euro South
February 22, 2020 @ 5:24 pm
Sounds to me like Mt. Rushmore of independent country and roots music might be up for some re-chiseling.
Whipper Snapper
February 22, 2020 @ 7:54 pm
I met a boy wearing Van, 501,
And a dope Beastie T,
Nipple rings
New tattoos that claimed that he
Was OGT,
Back from ’92,
From the first EP.
And in between sips of Coke
He told me that he thought
We were sellin’ out,
Layin’ down,
Suckin’ up to the man.
Well now I’ve got some bad advice for you, little buddy.
Before you point the finger you should know that I’m the man,
And if I’m the man, then you’re the man, and he’s the man as well
So you can point that fuckin’ finger up your ass.
All you know about me is what I’ve sold you, dumb fuck.
I sold out long before you’d ever even heard my name.
I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit, then you bought one.
So I’ve got some bad advice for you, little buddy.
Before you point your finger you should know that I’m the man,
If I’m the fuckin’ man then you’re the fuckin’ man as well
So you can point that fuckin’ finger up your ass.
All you know about me is what I’ve sold you, dumb fuck.
I sold out long before you’d ever even heard my name.
I sold my soul to make a record, dipshit, then you bought one.
All you read and wear or see and hear on TV is a product waiting for your fatass dirty dollar
So, shut up and buy, buy, buy my new record
Buy, buy, buy,
Send more money
Fuck you, buddy.
Fuck you, buddy
Fuck you, buddy
Fuck you, buddy.
Tool – “Hooker With A Penis“
Y’all get the fuck over yourselves.
Blockman
February 23, 2020 @ 7:59 am
I’m happy to say besides two shows and two records when he was still with it I have spent my money more wisely.
Kendall
February 22, 2020 @ 8:07 pm
I paid $275 for 2 tickets to see Sturgill In Birmingham last night and was not impressed at all. It was mediocre at best. I was really excited to see him also. I was on the floor with great seats and he seemed so cocky with his sunglasses on. The dude can play a guitar. I will give him credit and the BJCC was full. Tyler Childers gave a better performance and I didn’t know much of his music going in for I was there to see Sturgill. My son saw him in Berlin a few weeks back and was blown away so he insisted that I see him as well. I was a little disappointed in the show but Overall he is an amazing and talented fellow. It’s hard to believe this article is true about his attitude. I hope it’s not!
Blockman
February 23, 2020 @ 5:14 am
I wonder what drugs he was using? Surely smoking a bit of weed doesn’t count? There was a period of about 6-9 months where I was taking Dilaudid and just hanging out, smoking dope, eating Dominos and listening to the same 5 records over and over. It was Nashville Pussy – High as Hell, Supersuckers – Must’ve Been High and The Evil Powers…, Earth – Pentastar and Hellbound Glory – Old Highs, New Lows. Besides the HBG record I haven’t played any of those since that period. It was just before Wheeler Walker Jr dropped his first record which made it into the rotation the last 3 months. Can’t say I ever got into Anime during that period so maybe he was taking something else. Food for thought.
Brian
February 23, 2020 @ 7:57 am
Asheville review: Childers was great. Sturgill sucked. My seats were very bad but it looked like he had an orange tux on. I didn’t hear a non Sound & Fury song before we left.
Trice
February 27, 2020 @ 6:40 pm
Nudie suit ya dipshit…
Country When Country Wasn't Cool
February 23, 2020 @ 11:13 am
What gets to me is this: There are countless, talented people working dead-end jobs they hate, trying to figure out how to make a living in music. They would sell their grandmothers to be where Simpson is. He has reached a level that few do, with respect and accolades. He has no appreciation whatsoever for what God has given him. He is fortunate and he doesn’t care. If he hates the music so that (that HE made btw) and he hates the industry and everything associated with it, then QUIT. Go back to doing whatever it is he did before, return the Grammy, and tell the label to invest in someone who DOES appreciate it. It doesn’t matter how much talent you have, Sturgill…no one likes hearing you complain about being given a great life on a silver platter. Poor you. Just go away.
Kerry
February 23, 2020 @ 11:24 am
I don’t get it. It’s like a magician that makes a living performing magic tricks, then writes a book explaining the secret behind all his tricks, insults the people that paid to see his show and admiring his magic, then denigrates the pimps that enabled him, while admitting he’s just a whore trying to make a dollar. Then announces a new tour and expects people to show up and pay him for more parlor tricks after they’ve been told by him that it’s all a scam.
Fool me once…..shame on you. Fool me twice shame on me. Who in their right mind would pay to see this guy at this point?
With legendary artists like Hag, Willie, Kristofferson, etc. you could disagree with their politics without feeling they were talking down to you. You just agree to disagree and then run out and buy their next record. SS admits he’s a phony, hypocritical whore, but judges everyone else harshly.
Bocephus sang about his dad Hank Sr. In his song Leave Them Boys Alone……after a now show in Lubbock…and the people got mad and they all went home,…the first thing they did was put his records on.
……I think I’ll go put on a Waylon Jennings record. KMA SS.
Bear
February 23, 2020 @ 2:30 pm
I wonder if any of this is at all tied to his drug use. Meaning he’s railing against everything as a way of projecting because he is off the rails. That’s what it sounded like to me as well as being an asshole. Now I’m going to have to look concert reviews to see if the energy is taken onto the stage.
Also strange to head this direction because that SNL performance was a an act of pure defiance that you’d think he would’ve taken as a big win and ran with it. And maybe this is running with it. Maybe this was his long con plan a big fuck you to the music business.
Ironic since his first record was a big middle finger but done in a much better way.
Cole
February 23, 2020 @ 6:06 pm
Sturgill can get fucked. New album is a pile of garbage and this bs. No thanks. Loser
Jimmy
February 23, 2020 @ 6:08 pm
It sounds like he’s coming unglued, and hopefully those closest to him will talk him down from the ledge. Anyone who thinks this is badass, or someone just fucking around, knows nothing about mental health issues. Talk about self-sabotage.
Charlie
February 24, 2020 @ 5:08 am
“I equate it to, if you owned a fucking dry cleaners, and it took off, and somebody showed up like, ‘Hey, we want to buy your dry cleaners. You can sit here and run the counter, but we’ll keep all the money.’ Like, what other business model would anybody fucking think that makes sense in? And honestly, I don’t really see what they’ve done that I couldn’t have done myself, probably better.”
I mean that is just pure hilljack philosophy there. Totally discounting the huge check the buyer in that situation handed over to you. He’s a classic head case of some sort or another. It’ll take somebody with a better matchbook psychology degree than mine to say exactly what kind though.
That’s not why I don’t like the vast majority of his music, but I’m sure it is a major contributing factor.
sixstringer
February 24, 2020 @ 6:38 am
PAID Decent $$$ for tickets only to be let down. Of course Tylers show was fabulous, good straight forward music. Sturgill on the other hand….WTF!!!?? A three piece rock band whos volume is wide open plus a little more. He opened with Sound and Fury then kept that same sound performing a few older songs that was absolutely awful. After making listeners ears bleed over half the crowd left before the end of the show, including myself. If I wanted to hear some shit noise I would purchase tickets to the local NASCAR race, do yourself a favor and stay home.
OhMyRagweed
February 24, 2020 @ 9:06 am
I’m just going to put this out there because no one appears to be referencing this from the TWP podcast but Sturgill did call Trig a “butt-hurt, obsessed fan boy” at one point and also talked about expectations surrounding the release of his past records and that perhaps SGTE just wasn’t the “country” album everyone was expecting. I realize this is a terrible attempt at a paraphrase but it was talked about. My point…perhaps there’s some animosity that exists? Sturgill did reference Trig as being one of his biggest supports at the onset of this whole thing. FWIW – equally excited for both TC and SS this March in STL! #KAKAW
Trigger
February 24, 2020 @ 12:12 pm
Here’s the full quote, since folks are only quoting the parts they choose.
““Kyle at Saving Country Music, he’s literally the first that wrote about me. He’s always been supportive. But then at a certain point, you have to stop calling yourself a journalist and realize you’re just a butthurt obsessed fan boy, and I’m not going to make ‘Metamodern’ [Sounds in Country Music]’ fifteen times.”
I just addressed it in a new article.
AndrewEsq
April 22, 2020 @ 10:54 pm
I guess Trigger can’t win. I still think you’re a bit easy on Sturgill given how much damage he’s caused this community of fans and specifically, the community surrounding the “traditional” or “Alt.” country scene he made his name in. While Sturgill never had the ability to “destroy country music,” Sturgill Simpson’s blatant betrayal of his original genre, fanbase, and message certainly was capable and DID almost single-handedly cause this community to become an UGLY place through creating needless hostility between, what used to be, unified supporters of a special and under appreciated type of music.
Destroying the unity amongst alt. country music fans is Sturgill Simpson’s unforgivable sin, not his personal politics, not his ego, not his substance issues (although the first 2 certainly contributed to his actions and I wish him the best regarding the last wherever he may currently be in that process). He has irreparably damaged this community and countless artists through his actions in a manner that no one will ever truly fully comprehend. Worse yet, he’s divided virtually the entire Alt country community in two by running his mouth in a manner that detracts from, not adds to “country music” or “music” in general. He may claim that “country” is a pointless category and isn’t relevant to him but, he was the one singing lines like “I’m tired of y’all playing dress up trying to sing them old country songs” fueling that fire not too long ago. Nowadays, Sturgill Simpson is closer to either a John Stewart or Kim Kardashian than your favorite Highwayman nowadays and the substance of the comments attached to his name reflect this point ad nauseum (I reckon some of those fellows disagreed on politics as they championed each other to legendary status by the way).
While there’s always been a group of people who only listen to artists with the same political agenda they have, those people are not only almost always politically inept followers incapable of grasping the nuance of complex problems, they are also musically incompetent due to their voluntary omission of approximately half of the great country music available on this planet over some political affiliation they don’t really understand to begin with. This community’s toxicity increased drastically in response to Sturgill Simpson’s pollution. So much so, I literally refrain from gigging original music because I wouldn’t want some of y’all as fans, so much so, I’m happier without following this website because the commenters are so distasteful, and that is a real shame.
Sturgill Simpson is by far the single largest villain in causing and encouraging virtually every single MUSICAL discussion about him that extends beyond 3 valid points and rebuttals to end in a POLITICAL insult. THAT IS NOT WHAT COUNTRY MUSIC OR ANY MUSIC IS ABOUT AND WE SHOULD BE EMBARRASSED! Sturgill, like all artists and people, is entitled to his opinions and political beliefs. He is entitled to write and sing political songs if that’s what he chooses to do. His dismissal and disdain for fans of his that hold different political opinions than his own is always going to seem childish and lacking in class when compared to the approach of say a Dolly Parton but, it is his right none the less. What he should NOT be permitted to get away with is encouraging, whether willfully or negligently, a group of music fans to to stop supporting music, artists, and each other on the basis of politics. Remember, Sturgill was openly super liberal back in his Sunday Valley days so, anyone whom can discuss that album and says they liked his country music was aware of his political affiliation at that time. The difference is, back then he was making political points, now he is spewing hatred towards people he owes a great deal.
He should be ashamed of the way he’s treated the people who caused this pretentious whiney millionaire to become a millionaire to spite his bad attitude and inability to play well with others. Sturgill owes countless fans and dollars to SCM and doesn’t deserve the mercy he’s been shown in SCM articles in my humble opinion for the above-stated reasons. I don’t think I’ve commented on a SCM ARTICLE discussing Sturgill since Sturgill was country because the community and COMMNETS are always too ugly to ignore (although I know my policy of not calling people out by name has led to some confusion as to whether I was criticizing the author or a commenter in the past, for the record, I’ve never had anything beyond a healthy difference of opinion with the author as he’s always done the work and formed sound opinions worthy of respect at minimum) I do love and miss aspects of this site but, after watching the damage Sturgill has done to this place, I still can’t stomach the number of remaining Sturgill Supporters (even as that number has decreased DRASTICALLY since my last appearance) because he’s made a real mess of the community surrounding the music I love and isn’t really being held accountable.
Dennixx
February 24, 2020 @ 9:45 am
I once read an interview (back when he mattered to me)
where he was talking w his wife, pondering his future and considering quitting music, and she said something to the effect..you should continue as it’s the only thing you’ve done that you don’t suck at.
Wonder her opinion on his music now.
BTW I’m sure she welcomes the current income though.
Just happy I haven’t contributed since 2016 or 17.
Yardbird
February 24, 2020 @ 10:15 am
Saw the show in Birmingham. Tyler Childers was great. I was really looking forward to Sturgill as it was my first time to see him. Sturgill’s stage show was outdone by an airbrush picture of a double wide with a campfire (Tyler’s backdrop). That should tell you something. Sturgill also decided not to spend any of my $100 plus ticket to bring some horns out for older songs and just save it in his own pocket. Well, that is really showing the record company who is boss by sticking it to your fans that pay. This was the worst concert experience of my 35 plus years of seeing concerts. Do yourselves a favor and sell your tickets early before more reviews come out.
Guido
February 24, 2020 @ 10:35 am
S.S. is a narcissistic douchebag, always playing the victim but never taking responsibility for his own bullshit. Screw him.
Tommy
February 25, 2020 @ 3:52 am
I gotta find it funny because I was at the London (UK) show he was bitching about… everyone knows London crowds are hard work.. wanna know why? BECAUSE IT’S LONDON! If you don’t bring your A Game, your fixing to fail. So maybe treating some of the most discerning music fans out there as a “rehearsal” isn’t your best bet? You think the city that gave birth to The Stones, David Bowie, The Sex Pistols, Drum n Bass and The Clash is gonna show you love for taking an on-stage nap while rehearsing with your teenage garage-band? There are ten other shows on TONIGHT we could be at. Do your damn job.
Boss Man
February 25, 2020 @ 6:12 am
Sturgill would’ve been better off going with a schtick like his bff Ben Hoffman used. He should’ve released records under a stage name so this interview stuff would come off as irony instead of seeming fucked in the head.
LBoogie
February 25, 2020 @ 10:25 am
I think SS has evolved in many ways over the course of his career, his business and personal lives being the least obvious. The current detractors, I think, are those who are let down when he does not do what they expect (demand?) him to do. And he’s basically saying, “well, fuck you – don’t need ya.” His country music “fans” are not evolving with his music. They want the image of SS that they first latched onto, but now that he’s shed the (levied?) trope, people are mad. I think people falsely feel duped.
Mike
February 25, 2020 @ 4:14 pm
If I’m being real High Top Mountain is the only record of his that I consistently listen to. There’s no doubt the guy is a talented musician and I’m sure he’s great live, but I just can’t get into the whole psychedelic shtick. I’m a country music fan, to sort of misquote Jason Boland, I much prefer “honest words and simple rhymes”. I just can’t relate to all of the weird shit that Sturgill puts out, it just doesn’t make any sense to me.
Vinny
February 28, 2020 @ 2:01 pm
Trigger,
First off, that Uproxx interview restored my faith in Sturgill Simpson as an artist, human being, father, husband, you name it. He wears his opinions on his sleeve and he always has. Why should you pick that apart? Also, your opinion on his Chris Stapleton labelling was misguided. He admits that he’s close friends with him and never downgraded the quality of his music. Rather, he explained that Chris’s record label crafted the album to sell the way they saw it fit. Also, you’ve mentioned in other posts that Sturgill is your favorite. Now that he comes out with a “fuck you” to the industry album all of a sudden you’re going to change course?
Truth
March 2, 2020 @ 11:22 pm
“I made a Waylon Jennings album”
Problem is Waylon passed gas that sounded better than anything SS has ever done. He’s that person everyone knows. Too cool, too smart, too genius. Problem that’s all in his own head.
SS is country’s version of a banana peel duct taped to a wall. Not ironic. Not clever. Not even original. The term asshole is fitting, and has been since the hipsters latched onto him.
kentucky_slim
March 3, 2020 @ 7:24 am
I was at the Lexington show this past Friday night. I consider myself a fan of most ALL genres of music. Like most folks probably feel I’ve often said if someone found my ipod laying on the sidewalk they’d wonder what psycho listens to this all over the place playlist. I say this to preface the fact that I’m not a “country music only” fan who was wondering wtf was going on when Sturgill came on the stage and played what was ultimately an extremely boring jam session. I stuck around till the end, but was definitely disappointed. Especially after Tyler Childers blew the damn roof of the place. Definitely a tough act to follow after Tyler literally received a 5 minute long roaring standing ovation. I watched a large portion of the crowd, including everyone around me, leave less than halfway through Sturgill’s set. This was his HOMETOWN crowd and they weren’t into it. Surely this has, and from reading the comments above it has, been happening since the first night of this tour and before. Is this what is driving this anger he is unleashing? Is he upset that others aren’t seeing or feeling his “vision” or trajectory of his music? Whatever it is it is VERY off putting. I have tickets for the Louisville show in late May and frankly I bet I don’t stick around for Sturgill’s set which is ridiculous. I paid a lot of money for those tickets and I’m still very much looking forward to Tyler, but man between his last performance and he recent words I can’t put much energy to getting behind him. It’s ashame because there is no doubt he is an incredible musician, but to burn your fans, your label, etc publicly … what a shitbag.
Ekalb24
March 3, 2020 @ 1:09 pm
I seem to be one of the few on this site that loved Sound and Fury live. It’s an odd pairing following Childers but I thought it kicked ass. I was at one of the Asheville shows and it was basically a 45 minute jam session right out of the gate with an intense jam out of Best Clockmaker on Mars being the highlight. It’s definitely a far cry from his country roots but I thought it was a great rock n roll show.
Jack Williams
March 4, 2020 @ 6:44 am
I’m gong to one of the DC shows in about a week and a half and I don’t foresee walking out during Sturgill’s set. I don’t love the Sound and Fury album, but I was a rawk fan years before I became a country fan and I remember that even though I merely liked ASGTE, seeing him perform it live start to finish was great. And I’ve been on board with Sturgill since the beginning of his solo career (never saw Sunday Valley, but saw him do a no cover show in DC in 2013) and so I’m just curious to see how it goes. Whether I see him again after this remains to be seen. Pumped to see Tyler, who even though I’ve been on board with in a similar way (pre-ordered Purgatory like I pre-ordered High Top Mountain), I have yet to see live.
Deedubs
March 7, 2020 @ 8:41 am
Sounds like somebody need to wake and kill their ego
Jim Reynolds
March 8, 2020 @ 6:51 am
Went to Atlanta show 3/8. Tyler rocked. Sturgill sucked. People started pouring out about the third SS song. What Sturgill doesn’t get is that he didn’t sell out the arenas; Tyler Childers did. Why they wouldn’t do at least one or two songs together is weird to me. Sing Poncho & Lefty or some Dead song or something. This tour is weird, and I definitely wasted my money.
M. McAuley
May 3, 2020 @ 12:13 pm
Why are you being such an asshole about Sturgill? You use him to popularize your blog and then trash him when you think that angle on him will win you followers. You’re being a transparent, negative, profiteering ass.
Scott
June 21, 2020 @ 7:07 pm
Sturgill Simpson is basically like a new Steve Earl, in that I think he basically despises his own following and fans because he’s very emotionally invested in some poorly thought-out political positions that are completely antithetical to the culture of the people who support him.
PsillyBoyyys
November 6, 2020 @ 4:18 am
Wow, the combined level of brain cells on this post coupled with the brain cells of the journalist could be counted on a single hand, none of you buck toothed, inbred, Justin Moore loving fucks understand what “art” means, and it’s folks like you that have fueled the demise of art in American music. So go back to chugging your shitty bud light and ass tapping your sisters, sit back and watch a true artist and likely one of the best song writers in American music make waves through the nation. Sturgill does things just to piss you people off, and it WORKS.
Wonder how many of you sang along with Turtles all the way down knowing damn well you’re scared Shitless of LSD PSILOCYBIN and DMT. Because your propaganda fueled minds can’t take any expansion. Go pray that Jesus sends you the perfect mail-order country artist. who sings about worthless shit and doesn’t speak up for anything. Maybe Christ will even make him racist and retarded for you also. Oh and fuck the boot licking journalist who was paid by some record company to write this article. What sort of butt hurt jackass releases an entire article based on slandering someone and taking their interviews out of context.
Crawly
December 18, 2020 @ 8:32 am
Seems to me y’all took a couple of quotes from the uproxx interview(7 maybe?) And created your own narrative. Puppet kuch? He’s always bitched about his job. And about publications like this trying to make a name talking about people who actually are doing shit.
D.Bond
August 20, 2021 @ 9:34 am
I know this is an old article, but my dad was signed to a record label in the 80s and then worked FOR the Grammy’s in the early 2000s, but quit for the same reasons. Literally nothing Sturgill is saying is out of pocket. It’s pretty disingenuous for the writer to act like they’re the all knower because they’re not the one in the shit. Writing about music is like dancing about architecture.
CMTs Worst Nightmare
February 21, 2022 @ 7:35 pm
You fuckers dont know good music if it came up and butt fucked your cousin (I’m sure many of you can relate). Sturgil Simpson is one of the truest artist out right now and y’all can go and suck big corporate media’s dick. Oh wait sturgil already told you to do that, get fucked you sheep cunts
Elaina
May 23, 2022 @ 2:22 pm
Sturgill Simpson has more talent in his pinky than all of the corporate bullshit “country” music industry. The fact that he continues to be snubbed by the CMAs is all the proof you need that real country music is dead to the industry
Jon
June 23, 2022 @ 8:44 pm
It’s funny that all you haters don’t have a fucking clue that he doesn’t want your fan boy love affair. He wants to make music for people who love his music. The music you’ve never took the time to listen to. Because if you did you wouldn’t be bitching about anything
David Martin
June 28, 2022 @ 5:26 pm
Sturgill is a liberal snowflake, buckling under the pressure of success. He’s an ACLU-loving, Trump-hating, pussy.
Willyboy
August 22, 2022 @ 5:12 pm
I’m tempted to ask the question : what does that make you, exactly? Instead, it’s easier to point out that his music is not for you and I’m certain he’s fine with that.
Willyboy
August 22, 2022 @ 5:13 pm
I’m tempted to ask the question : what does that make you, exactly? Instead, it’s easier to point out that his music is not for you and I’m certain he’s fine with that.
Austin
February 25, 2023 @ 7:53 pm
I’m a little late to the party, but this is the worst take I’ve seen in a while.
It’s also a poorly written piece.
Fishyaker
June 3, 2023 @ 9:36 am
I am not a psychiatrist, and I do not know Sturgill Simpson, but given his past substance problems, the things he says in contradiction to other things he says and this sort of “I can’t deal with this shit” attitude, he very much seems to be someone in need of counseling services. I have family members with mental illness and I know a little about it and it’s tragic and heartbreaking. I am not being mean or trying to run Mr. Simpson down. He’s an amazing talent and I love much of his work. But on an emotional and psychological level — even on a moral level where he’s ok with screwing people over — he seems pretty close to bankrupt. These asshole moves that the article correctly notes, the “I got what I wanted, so f~(& off” behavior and the anger… I feel bad for him, but I feel worse for the people he’s hurting now, and in the future, as the article correctly notes, corporate entities will think twice about funding up and coming talent based on this cautionary tale.
Again, love the music, but the guy needs some time off, some time for reflection and some time with a life coach to understand that his behavior is destructive and damaging to one’s career, relationships, fans, and (ultimately) family. I do wish him the best and will continue to enjoy his music, even if his flaws make him, to me, a very unlikable individual.