From the New York Times
By JOE COSCARELLI
DECEMBER 6, 2016
Adele, Beyoncé, Drake, Justin Bieber…Sturgill Simpson?
Bewilderment was the first reaction of many this morning as the Grammy Awards announced its nominees for Album of the Year, pitting four of the most culturally and commercially dominant pop stars of this era against Mr. Simpson, 38, a critically respected but little-known country outsider.
“A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” his intricate, intense third album and his first on a major label, Atlantic, was a modest success when released in April, but has sold fewer than 200,000 copies — a far cry from Adele’s “25” or Drake’s “Views,” both dripping in platinum.
But perhaps no one was more thrown off by the left-field nomination than Mr. Simpson, who, outside of his music, has kept a deliberately low profile other than sparring occasionally with the Nashville establishment. (His record was also nominated for Best Country Album.) The stunned singer, who wrote “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth” as a message to his infant son, was grateful but often at a loss for words while discussing the honor in an interview this afternoon.
“My mother-in-law passed last week,” he said, “so we kind of needed a ray of sunshine.”
Fresh off being fitted for a funeral suit, Mr. Simpson admitted that he was “still processing” the news, but managed some preliminary reflections about what this new spotlight could mean for his career, while also floating a pretty good reason he could miss the Grammy ceremony, on Feb. 12. These are excerpts from the conversation.
Take me through your morning.
[My publicist] woke me up. My wife said, ‘Who the [expletive] is calling you at 7:30?’ She told me the news and we just kind of stayed in bed for a while. I was trying to wrap my head around what this even means and looking back on everything. It’s extremely humbling. I went downstairs and made pancakes and watched ‘Sesame Street’ with my son. That was pretty much it.
The Grammys are often derided for being out of touch, but this year, the big categories skew younger and more pop. People see your name in there and are already calling you the potential protest vote. How does it feel to be held up as the ‘authentic’ one among a lot of big pop albums?
Man, I haven’t even gotten that far. I don’t really know how all of it works. I just went in and poured my heart out and tried to make the best record that I possibly could. I didn’t expect anything like this, ever. I don’t really feel like I did this, in a way. Maybe it’s a lot of people reacting and showing that art is important. I’m just grateful. I really can’t believe it. To be even mentioned in the same breath as all those other artists is a little surreal for someone like me.
Are those albums that you’ve listened to?
I loved ‘Lemonade.’ I thought it was genius. I love the Adele record. I really, really wish, honestly, and no [expletive] — I would’ve liked to see Frank Ocean’s name where mine is. But that’s not my place to say. I totally understand [his protest]. I just thought that record [‘Blonde’] was really groundbreaking. I listen to just about everything except country music, so it’s strange.
This year you had a dispute with the Academy of Country Music and put your foot down and said you’re not going to play the games Nashville wants you to play to be a part of the establishment. What does it mean now that you’re representing Nashville on the even larger stage that is the Grammys?
I said what I said. I don’t really think it has anything to do with whatever this is. I’m not sure what I represent; I just want to make art. If they wanted to recognize me one day, that’s great, too. If they don’t, it doesn’t change how I’m approaching my career at all.
This is much bigger than me. This is everything. Just being nominated in that field — I’m trying to maintain some perspective. I’d resigned myself months ago that nothing like this was going to happen and was totally O.K. with that. My family’s healthy, the tour was successful, so this is all just a really unexpected, super-positive end to what’s been a strange year. I’m not going to second-guess it. I certainly don’t want to use this opportunity to vent negativity in any way. It’s a really good day for me and my band, after a lot of hard work. Now the reward is we get to go do a lot more hard work, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Has there been any talk of performing at the ceremony?
It’s way too early for all that. I can tell you that my wife and I have our second child on the way, due any time in the first two weeks of February. So this is all a little hairy. But it’s all so fresh. I would love to be there, but I’m not going to miss a birth for it. [Laughs]
How do you feel about a child being born in Los Angeles?
Oh, yeah. Um. I’m more worried about this kid asking me, like, “Hey, where’s my record at, Dad?”
Have you been able to process what it means to make such an intimate message to your child that’s now being recognized on this scale?
First of all, I wouldn’t have made this album if it hadn’t been for my son. Immediately I realized — I got out of bed and went into his room and gave him a hug. I feel like he did this, not me.
I certainly didn’t expect to have a Country Album of the Year nomination for this record, much less to be in the Album of the Year category. I asked my wife, ‘Why do I feel scared right now?’ I don’t even know what this means. How does it affect our life, or my career? I’m just trying to avoid any completely unnecessary expectations that people might think this puts on my career going forward. I’m not going to change how I approach my art.
What did you tell your band about all this?
I told them, ‘So much for time off.’ I had completely planned to take the next year, or possibly 18 months, completely off. I was so certain that when the tour wrapped up, we were done. But it might be a good idea to go play some shows again, I don’t know, given how many millions of people are saying, ‘Who the [expletive] is Sturgill Simpson?’ as of this morning.
By JOE COSCARELLI
DECEMBER 6, 2016
Adele, Beyoncé, Drake, Justin Bieber…Sturgill Simpson?
Bewilderment was the first reaction of many this morning as the Grammy Awards announced its nominees for Album of the Year, pitting four of the most culturally and commercially dominant pop stars of this era against Mr. Simpson, 38, a critically respected but little-known country outsider.
“A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” his intricate, intense third album and his first on a major label, Atlantic, was a modest success when released in April, but has sold fewer than 200,000 copies — a far cry from Adele’s “25” or Drake’s “Views,” both dripping in platinum.
But perhaps no one was more thrown off by the left-field nomination than Mr. Simpson, who, outside of his music, has kept a deliberately low profile other than sparring occasionally with the Nashville establishment. (His record was also nominated for Best Country Album.) The stunned singer, who wrote “A Sailor’s Guide to Earth” as a message to his infant son, was grateful but often at a loss for words while discussing the honor in an interview this afternoon.
“My mother-in-law passed last week,” he said, “so we kind of needed a ray of sunshine.”
Fresh off being fitted for a funeral suit, Mr. Simpson admitted that he was “still processing” the news, but managed some preliminary reflections about what this new spotlight could mean for his career, while also floating a pretty good reason he could miss the Grammy ceremony, on Feb. 12. These are excerpts from the conversation.
Take me through your morning.
[My publicist] woke me up. My wife said, ‘Who the [expletive] is calling you at 7:30?’ She told me the news and we just kind of stayed in bed for a while. I was trying to wrap my head around what this even means and looking back on everything. It’s extremely humbling. I went downstairs and made pancakes and watched ‘Sesame Street’ with my son. That was pretty much it.
The Grammys are often derided for being out of touch, but this year, the big categories skew younger and more pop. People see your name in there and are already calling you the potential protest vote. How does it feel to be held up as the ‘authentic’ one among a lot of big pop albums?
Man, I haven’t even gotten that far. I don’t really know how all of it works. I just went in and poured my heart out and tried to make the best record that I possibly could. I didn’t expect anything like this, ever. I don’t really feel like I did this, in a way. Maybe it’s a lot of people reacting and showing that art is important. I’m just grateful. I really can’t believe it. To be even mentioned in the same breath as all those other artists is a little surreal for someone like me.
Are those albums that you’ve listened to?
I loved ‘Lemonade.’ I thought it was genius. I love the Adele record. I really, really wish, honestly, and no [expletive] — I would’ve liked to see Frank Ocean’s name where mine is. But that’s not my place to say. I totally understand [his protest]. I just thought that record [‘Blonde’] was really groundbreaking. I listen to just about everything except country music, so it’s strange.
This year you had a dispute with the Academy of Country Music and put your foot down and said you’re not going to play the games Nashville wants you to play to be a part of the establishment. What does it mean now that you’re representing Nashville on the even larger stage that is the Grammys?
I said what I said. I don’t really think it has anything to do with whatever this is. I’m not sure what I represent; I just want to make art. If they wanted to recognize me one day, that’s great, too. If they don’t, it doesn’t change how I’m approaching my career at all.
This is much bigger than me. This is everything. Just being nominated in that field — I’m trying to maintain some perspective. I’d resigned myself months ago that nothing like this was going to happen and was totally O.K. with that. My family’s healthy, the tour was successful, so this is all just a really unexpected, super-positive end to what’s been a strange year. I’m not going to second-guess it. I certainly don’t want to use this opportunity to vent negativity in any way. It’s a really good day for me and my band, after a lot of hard work. Now the reward is we get to go do a lot more hard work, and that’s a beautiful thing.
Has there been any talk of performing at the ceremony?
It’s way too early for all that. I can tell you that my wife and I have our second child on the way, due any time in the first two weeks of February. So this is all a little hairy. But it’s all so fresh. I would love to be there, but I’m not going to miss a birth for it. [Laughs]
How do you feel about a child being born in Los Angeles?
Oh, yeah. Um. I’m more worried about this kid asking me, like, “Hey, where’s my record at, Dad?”
Have you been able to process what it means to make such an intimate message to your child that’s now being recognized on this scale?
First of all, I wouldn’t have made this album if it hadn’t been for my son. Immediately I realized — I got out of bed and went into his room and gave him a hug. I feel like he did this, not me.
I certainly didn’t expect to have a Country Album of the Year nomination for this record, much less to be in the Album of the Year category. I asked my wife, ‘Why do I feel scared right now?’ I don’t even know what this means. How does it affect our life, or my career? I’m just trying to avoid any completely unnecessary expectations that people might think this puts on my career going forward. I’m not going to change how I approach my art.
What did you tell your band about all this?
I told them, ‘So much for time off.’ I had completely planned to take the next year, or possibly 18 months, completely off. I was so certain that when the tour wrapped up, we were done. But it might be a good idea to go play some shows again, I don’t know, given how many millions of people are saying, ‘Who the [expletive] is Sturgill Simpson?’ as of this morning.
