Sturgill Simpson: The Atypical Outlaw Returns

In 2014, without warning, Sturgill Simpson became THE nugget on the country scene, hailed by audiences and critics alike. With a magnificent second album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, far removed from Nashville’s smooth or pop canons, the American songwriter juggled with the tradition of outlaws Waylon & Willie while keeping his feet firmly planted in his time... Ten years later, after a handful of eclectic records to his credit (including the very ZZ Top soundtrack to a Japanese anime), some freelance work in Hollywood (in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, among others) and many long stays away from his native Kentucky (in Southeast Asia and Paris), Simpson pens Passage du Desir, a debut album under his new name: Johnny Blue Skies. The outlaw touch is still there, but enriched by blues (Eric Clapton, JJ Cale), seventies rock (Jackson Browne, Gerry Rafferty) and a warm, sober sound. In an exclusive interview, Sturgill Simpson covers his 2024 vintage, new pseudonym, musical upbringing, atypical side, and his special relationship with old-time country music.