Safe to say that Sturgill Simpson is the sheriff of jamming?
I’d like to see someone challenge me on calling him that. And selfishly, I’d love to see the “Sheriff of Jamming” nickname stick. Not only does he check that box, the artist formerly known at Sturgill Simpson (and still is, for that matter) checks a plethora of others.
Country music star with countless genre-bending hits? Check. Succeed under the completely different name of “Johnny Blue Skies” that allows for an exploration into a different sound? Check. The ability to drop in and play with one of the most recognizable bands in the history of music in the Grateful Dead? Check.
He’s simply one of the most versatile artists the music industry has ever seen, and maybe that’s why he’s never exactly fit in with the traditional mold of modern music. Sturgill is everything you want out a modern artist, but everything that modern music doesn’t want. It’s a weird juxtaposition, but that’s what makes the artist known both as Sturgill and Johnny Blue Skies so special.
It’s also what gives him the ability – and ranking, if you will – to speak to other artists about the art of jamming. If you’ve ever seen Sturgill live you know that Simpson loves to make his songs malleable. What do I mean by that? Well, he could play the first couple of minutes “Call To Arms,” and then get lost in the middle with mind-melting guitar solos and riffs, only to come back and finish the song minutes later.
In patented jam-band fashion.
I was fortunate enough to see him last year in Nashville, and the concert that was a part of his Why Not? Tour easily jumped into my personal “Top 5 Concerts of my Life” list. The energy was outstanding. The pacing, even with seven and eight minute songs, was breakneck. The Sturgill was… Simpsoning. Or it might be more appropriate to say the Blue Skies were Johnnying.
It looked like the same thing was happening at his recent concert at the Mission Ballroom in Denver, Colorado. At some point along the jamming proceedings, Simpson felt like he should share what was on his mind. For some reason, he was thinking about the younger generation of jam bands, and he decided to give them a little bit of guidance.
I think it’s safe to assume that a number of people were coming to multiple shows and then complaining about the setlist, perhaps hearing the same songs? Or not hearing the same songs?
“All these jam band kids, I’m gonna tell you all something. It ain’t about going to shows and not hearing the same songs 18 nights in a row. We are not a jam band. I am a songwriter with a band that jams. Which is why tonight, you are going to hear two and a half hours of songs you didn’t hear last night.
And maybe some sh*t we played last night because we just like playing it. Don’t be spoiled little b*tches.”
Sturgill has seen the jam band discourse 👀 "Don't be spoiled little bitches" pic.twitter.com/ZeEVyXpzxA
— boogieman sam (@dudeimsad) April 16, 2025
Good to know that there’s such a thing as jam band guardrails.
Love that Sturgill took it upon himself to speak on jamming for a minute, as it has become quite popular in the country music scene lately. We’ve started to see some really cool crossover between the jam band world and the country world, with fans of bands like Phish, Grateful Dead, and Umphrey’s McGee start to really dig acts like Billy Strings, Sturgill Simpson, Daniel Donato, and a handful of bluegrass bands as well.
Good stuff.
Here’s a little more from Stu’s trip to Denver:
