SHEFFIELD: Greystones

Friday 25th July, 2014

7:30pm

Event information

When Sturgill Simpson commenced recording his debut solo album, he went into the studio with a rather lofty goal in mind: to make nothing less than “the purest, most uncompromising, hard country album anyone has made in 30 years.” Now that it’s a done deal, how does the Nashville-based singer-songwriter feel he fared? “Well, I’m not gonna say that I did it,” he replies with characteristic modesty, “but I don’t think that I could have tried any harder.”

That determination is evident in each of the dozen songs—10 of them original compositions—that comprise High Top Mountain, released on Simpson’s own label. Uncompromisingly honest, devoid of gloss and fakery, and packed with impassioned vocal performances and world-class musicianship, High Top Mountain heralds the emergence of the former frontman of the popular Kentucky band Sunday Valley as a formidable presence on the Americana/roots scene. Simpson jumped into his new solo career with only one guiding principle: to always be himself and steer clear of trends. “When I sit down to write and sing,” he says, “what comes out is what’s on this record. I can’t try to be someone else.”

High Top Mountain—named after a landmark in Kentucky not far from where Simpson grew up, and doubling as the moniker of his new road band—was recorded primarily at Falling Rock, the Nashville home studio of producer Dave Cobb. Further recording took place at Hillbilly Central, the studio favored by such legends as Waylon Jennings and Tompall Glaser. “A lot of history there,” says Simpson. The album features some of the city’s top session players, among them Country Music Hall of Fame pianist Hargus “Pig” Robbins and steel guitarist Robby Turner. Says Simpson, “Dave told me, ‘If you want to make it sound like the old records, let’s get the guys who played on the old records.’ It was surreal to be sitting in a vocal booth playing guitar and looking through a glass window and there’s Pig Robbins in front of you. I had to step up my game a little.”