Sturgill Simpson is an American country singer-songwriter born in Jackson, Kentucky in 1978, and one of the defining voices of modern outlaw country and Americana. Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014) is the breakthrough to start with, and A Sailor's Guide to Earth (2016) won the Grammy for Best Country Album. Shop Sturgill Simpson vinyl, CDs, and reissues at Wax Trax Records.
John Sturgill Simpson was born in Jackson, Kentucky on June 8, 1978. He served in the U.S. Navy from 1996-1999. He launched his recording career in the early 2010s as the frontman of the Sunday Valley band before launching his solo career. He is widely cited as one of the most important contemporary country and Americana figures. His 2014 album Metamodern Sounds in Country Music - borrowing the title from Ray Charles's foundational 1962 Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music - established his commercial breakthrough. His 2016 follow-up A Sailor's Guide to Earth - a conceptual album structured as advice to his newborn son - won the Grammy Award for Best Country Album in 2017 and was nominated for Album of the Year (the first country album nominated for Album of the Year in decades). His 2020 paired Cuttin' Grass volumes established his bluegrass capability. He launched a Johnny Blue Skies pseudonym project with Passage du Desir (2024), his creative independence from country music industry constraints. His foundational influence on contemporary country and Americana is widely cited.
Sturgill Simpson's sound combines country, outlaw country, contemporary country, country rock, Americana, bluegrass, soul-country, and psychedelic country with his distinctive vocal delivery (use of Waylon Jennings-influenced phrasing), virtuosic compositional approaches, and varied compositional approaches drawing on classic 1970s outlaw country alongside soul and unconventional country influences.
High Top Mountain, Loose Music, Atlantic Records, and Elektra Records pressings of the Sturgill Simpson catalog have been issued in multiple color variant editions and limited deluxe pressings, with collector demand.
Listeners new to Sturgill Simpson typically start with Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014) or A Sailor's Guide to Earth (2016).
