Decades before he released a dance record, Sturgill Simpson was spreading the vibes with his rapping.
In a newly resurfaced video, a teenage Simpson is seen delivering charming bars about prom with his two pals. “I’m gonna tell you a little something ’bout prom/That’s the night they got it going on,” he sings in the clip below. “Eating breakfast at the Continental with my crew/Doing that thing, getting to you.” It’s easy to see how years later, this teenager would write a song called “Make America Fuk Again.”
Simpson released the rowdy disco delight Mutiny After Midnight — his second record under his alter ego, Johnny Blue Skies — last month. Aside from briefly dropping on YouTube, the album was released only on physical formats, including a cherry-red vinyl pressing and via cassette. Despite this, the album debuted at Number Three on the Billboard 200.
“We had originally planned a physical only release for at least the first 4-6 weeks to support and show solidarity with independent record shops and to promote an increasingly bygone physical and tangible connection between music and music fans,” Simpson said. “There were some hiccups (and some opportunities) thus some in the moment adjustments that only led to more fun and chaos. Personally, I’m just here for the chaos. Plus, I’ve always really wanted to leak my own record…”
This fall, Simpson and his band the Dark Clouds will embark on the “Mutiny for the Masses tour,” kicking off on Sept. 4 in Austin, Texas. In a post on Wednesday, the singer insisted that ticket prices will remain the same as last year. “Inflation, fuel, and all other related touring costs have increased exponentially in the last year,” he said. “However, despite some saying otherwise, I’m afraid our ticket prices have not. High end ticket and low end ticket prices are the exact same, and the average ticket price is the exact same. I know because I insisted on it.”
