In the worst kept secret in current days Sturgill Simpson is set to release his first solo bluegrass album, titled ‘Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions,’ on Friday, October 16th.
The album of 20 reworked songs from his back catalog was recorded at The Butcher Shoppe recording studio in Nashville after the ongoing pandemic skuttled his arena tour with fellow Kentuckian Tyler Childers.
Sturgill’s ace band for the project is fiddler Stuart Duncan, guitarist Tim O’Brien, mandolinist Sierra Hull, drummer Miles Miller, bassist Mike Bub and Scott Vestal and Mark Howard on banjo. David Ferguson produced the album.
The project is Simpson keeping his promise to record an album if fans raised money for Nashville tornado relief, the Special Forces Foundation, the Equity Alliance and MusiCares’ COVID-19 fund.
During his livestream concert at the Ryman Auditorium earlier this year, Simpson confirmed his listeners raised nearly $250,000 in a week.
The LP — which follows Simpson’s 2019 album Sound and Fury — was meant to be a surprise release this coming Thursday before fans caught wind of ‘Cuttin’ Grass’’ early listing on an online streaming site.
Welp,..was hoping to surprise everybody on Thursday but somebody somewhere (Germany) got all excited and just couldn’t hold their horses,†Simpson wrote on Instagram. “These are how these songs were originally written and I decided — after climbing the ropes of country music stardom and completely destroying that career to make a rock ‘n’ roll record — I have great ambitions of a life of gravel lots and Porta Potties. I’m gonna be a bluegrass musician,†Sturgill proclaimed during a livestream originating from Nashville’s Ryman Auditorium in June featuring bluegrass renditions of his tunes as per The Tennessean.
The cat was let out of the bag by HighResAudio.comb that “got all excited and just couldn’t hold their horses,” per Simpson.
The cover art for the LP (no, really):
https://www.instagram.com/p/CGTGYnCF53t/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 – The Butcher Shoppe Sessions Tracklist
All Around You
All the Pretty Colors
Breakers Roar
I Don’t Mind
I Wonder
Just Let Go
Life Ain’t Fair
A Little Light
Life of Sin
Long White Line
Living the Dream
Old King Coal
Railroad of Sin
Sitting Here Without You
Sometimes Wine
The Storm
Time After All
Turtles All the Way Down
Voices
Water in a Well