Should I call him Sturgill Simpson or Johnny Blue Skies?
I guess back when this interview took place in 2017, he was still universally known as Sturgill. Though around that time, there was somewhat of a teaser hidden inside the art of his 2016 album A Sailor’s Guide To Earth that read:
“Beware the dreaded pirate Johnny Blue Skies.”
So maybe he was working on his Johnny Blue Skies persona right under our noses?
This interview is approaching a decade old (crazy 2017 is that long ago, right?), but it provides some really cool insight into Sturgill Simpson’s approach to writing music. The singer-songwriter is as unique and intricate as they come, which has led to some incredible work across his studio albums that exist to this date.
Now, he seems to be moving into a new phase of his career underneath the moniker “Johnny Blue Skies,” and though it might be a little different, his writing process will still likely be very much the same. Or at least we hope so… listen we can’t be picky. Sturgill is back, so let’s just be grateful, alright?
While talking to Austin City Limits TV, Simpson was asked if his reading – which he’s known to do a lot of – helps with his songwriting. At the time, Sturgill admitted that he was doing more writing than reading as the busyness of his career picked up, but he still attributed a lot to the time he takes to read:
“I read all kinds of stuff. Social, political, fun stuff. I don’t know. Metaphysical, sure. Everything from Carl Sagan, (Walt) Whitman to Hunter Thompson. Anybody.”
If those names mean nothing to you, Sagan was an astronomer and planetary scientist, Whitman was an essayist and poet (one of the most influential poets of all time), and Thompson was an author that once spent an entire year with the Hells Angels motorcycle club for research purposes.
So yeah, Sturgill dabbles in a wide variety of genres… just like his music.
When it comes time to put pen to paper, or music to record, Simpson believes that the songwriting process isn’t always up to him. Sometimes, or maybe even most of the time, it comes from something outside of one’s own mind. He also mentioned that being country isn’t a choice, but rather something that just happens naturally:
“Mostly just when I pick up a guitar and write a song, that’s just the only thing that kind of comes out is country. As far as what you write about, that’s kind of up to the wind.”
You can hear more from Sturgill in the interview below: