John Sturgill Simpson born June 8, [ 5 ] [ 6 ] is an American country music singer-songwriter and actor. He released two albums in β Cuttin' Grass, Vol. Having promised to release only five studio albums under his own name, not counting the Cuttin' Grass project, Simpson debuted the alter ego Johnny Blue Skies for his eighth album Passage du Desir. Simpson says of his educational career that he was "not a great student". He only "barely graduated" from Woodford High, enlisting in the United States Navy in his senior year.
Simpson formed the country rock band Sunday Valley in , [ 23 ] which played at the Pickathon festival in Portland, Oregon.
Setting his musical ambitions aside, Simpson focused on building a career at a Salt Lake City railroad freight-shipping yard for Union Pacific Railroad , which he eventually ended up managing. He credits his wife and friends with changing what he characterized as a hobbyist focus on songwriting and playing to convincing him to get serious about music as a potential career.
After going solo, Simpson released his debut album High Top Mountain in , which he self-funded, self-released, and had cut in Nashville. Among the session musicians were Hargus "Pig" Robbins on piano and Robby Turner , a former guitarist for Waylon Jennings , on steel guitar. I was pretty proud about that. Simpson had planned to take a break from touring for the entirety of to focus on his family, but reconsidered after his Grammy nominations.
While on the road in , he suffered from a relapse of substance abuse and depression , though after the tour's conclusion, he reconnected with his wife "in a very profound and intense way" and also devoted more time to his children. In a March 5, , interview on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast, Simpson revealed that he was working on his fourth studio album, and hinted that it would be a double album , though this was ultimately not the case.
