Simpson, King dish out new releases
Friday, December 11, 2020 – Sturgill Simpson surprised with the second installment of his bluegrass-oriented "Cutting' Grass Vol 2 – The Cowboy Arms Sessions." "Vol 1" came out in November. Simpson reunites with musicians — now dubbed "The Hillbilly Avengers" – to once again revisit and reinterpret his catalogue. Musicians include Sierra Hull on mandolin, Mike Bub on bass, Stuart Duncan on fiddle, Scott Vestal on banjo and Tim O'Brien on rhythm and lead guitar. A chunk of the songs were first released on "A Sailor's Guide to Earth." Simpson wrote "Hobo Cartoon" with Merle Haggard.
West Texas traditional country singer Randall King released his major label debut, the EP "Leanna." Named after his late sister who passed earlier this year, the EP reflects on King's personal struggles of early life between depression and OCD, as well as the obstacles he faced after the unexpected loss of his sister. The four songs include his own take on the traditional spiritual song, "I'll Fly Away." Bart Butler and Ryan Gore (Jon Pardi) produced the set. King previously released an EP and full-length disc.
More news for Sturgill Simpson
- 06/05/24: Simpson, aka Johnny Blue Skies, surfaces with new disc, tour
- 05/10/24: Kelley, McCreery, Peck release new music
- 04/23/24: Simpson headlines Outside Lands
- 04/05/24: Simpson's "Metamodern Sounds" coming back
- 08/20/21: Wanda Jackson, Simpson, McMurtry, Booth, Williams lead new releases
- 07/21/21: Simpson plans on concept album
- 05/24/21: Simpson, Price, Shovels & Rope join MerleFest
- 10/13/20: Simpson goes bluegrass
CD reviews for Sturgill Simpson
Anybody that believes you can have too much of a good thing, obviously hasn't listened to Sturgill Simpson's "Cuttin' Grass" collections, volumes one and two. Volume one contains a plentiful 20 songs, and it's a hoot and a holler – start to finish.
Simpson's point of view is complicated. He sounds just as natural singing about God, as he does on "All Around You," as he does while traveling down that highway to hell with "Railroad of Sin. ...
If scratching your head about the sounds emanating from Sturgill Simpson's third release, then "It Ain't All Flowers" from his last release, the excellent "Metamodern Sounds in Country Music," ought to serve as a reference point. In a disc filled with traditional country sounds, "Flowers" was about as far away as one could get with the electronics sounding so completely disjointed from everything else on the release. Put it this way - " Islands" ...
The first time you hear Sturgill sing you may feel like you've heard a ghost - the ghost of Waylon Jennings, that is. Although his voice isn't as low as Jennings' was, it's nevertheless still in the same general vocal range ballpark. Better still, the Kentucky native sings wonderfully honest country songs. "Life of Sin," for instance, is a song about, well, sinning, which is really some of what great country is all about.
Yes, most of this album will do a ...
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