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Sturgill Simpson is in session

Old school country troubadour Sturgill Simpson is in session.

Old school country troubadour Sturgill Simpson is in session.

In the US, Country Weekly had this to say about him:

"Remember country music with a capital C? You know, the way Waylon might have done it? Or Bill Monroe? The work of those icons is alive in the music of Kentucky native Sturgill Simpson, whose debut album, High Top Mountain, appeared in 2013.

"That was my goal with that album, to make a country record," acknowledges Sturgill. "I wanted to make something very traditional, unapologetic, but not like a niche retro thing."Simpson presents an uncompromising modern vision of honky-tonk, and songs like "Railroad of Sin" and "You Can Have the Crown" depict the struggles of hungry musicians as well as working-class folks in his native Appalachia.

Before Nashville, Sturgill drifted a bit, joining the Navy and spending time in Southeast Asia. He moved to Music City in 2006 but left for a job on the railroad in Utah, then decided to come back. "[It was] the fear of waking up at 40 and knowing I did anything else but what I loved," he explains of his return. "I just wanted to do what I felt I was best at, and at least I know that I tried. My wife, it was really more her doing than mine."

This time Sturgill found Nashville more receptive to what he was doing and earned a reputation for rowdy live shows that display his proficiency at everything from turbocharged twangers to heartbreaking ballads. "[A] lot of my heroes, Jimmy Martin, Bill Monroe, they brought the sauce, man!" he observes. "You have to pound the hammer. It's like this vibrating love and joy, and you literally can feel it.".

57 minutes

Last on

Thu 15 May 2014 19:00
Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2

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Sturgill Simpson

Sturgill Simpson

Bob talks to Sturgill Simpson, an American bluegrass and country music singer...

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Broadcast

  • Thu 15 May 2014 19:00
    Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio 2