NOTTINGHAM: The Maze

Tuesday 30th September, 2014

7:30pm

Event information

“This Kentucky-bred, Nashville-based honky-tonk hero makes country music rooted in the lean, mean traditions of Merle and Waylon, but follows his own muse” ROLLING STONE
.
A native of Jackson, Kentucky raised near Lexington, Simpson has deep southern roots, but he moved out west once he reached his late teens. In 2004 he formed Sunday Valley, an energetic roots outfit that made some waves in the early years of the new millennium, Sturgill Simpson went solo in 2012 and gained greater renown as a solo artist, thanks in large part to his muscular 2013 solo debut High Top Mountain. An outlaw country record in form and feel -- its debt to Waylon Jennings clear and unashamed -- High Top Mountain became a word-of-mouth hit in 2013, thereby establishing Simpson's country credentials and opening the door to a wider future.

Sturgill Simpson’s second album, Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, was released 12th May on Loose Music. The album follows hot on the heels of Simpson’s debut album, High Top Mountain, which was highly acclaimed by the likes of Mojo, Uncut, Rolling Stone, Classic Rock, The New York Times and Spin Magazine.

Dave Cobb (Jason Isbell, Lindi Ortega, Jamey Johnson) produced both Sturgill Simpson albums. Metamodern Sounds In Country Music was recorded live-to-tape at Cobb’s LCS studio in Nashville over four days in late 2013. Rather than being joined by legendary Nashville session players such as Hargus “Pig” Robbins and Robby Turner, as he was on his debut, this time around Simpson recorded the album with his own band (bassist Kevin Black, guitarist Laur Joamets and drummer Miles Miller) who were fresh back from a two month US tour - as Simpson puts it “4 guys, 4 days and 4 reels of tape”.

Of the album, Simpson comments “Myriad worldly offerings—religion, drugs, and more—all claim to be the omnipotent universal truth but in my experience, love is the only certainty. That’s what this record is about.”

“Sturgill writes and sings songs exactly as a man named Sturgill should. He's the genuine article and his work reminds me of the country music I fell in love with as a kid: ornery, smart and soulful”
JASON ISBELL

www.sturgillsimpson.com/