With these two working together, the next Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies project has gotta be good.
It was quite the busy 2o25 for the artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson. His Why Not? Tour had him playing three hour shows all across the country all year long, with back-to-back nights at Red Rocks acting as the tour’s exclamation point. And it was in 2024 when Sturgill/Johnny Blue Skies released his wonderful album Passage du Desir, which acted as the introduction to the “Johnny Blue Skies Era,” if you want to call it that.
And it sounds like some more music from Johnny Blue Skies will be here sooner rather than later.
Johnny Blue Skies has been keeping fans on their toes ever since he created a new Instagram page in September of last year. Since the verified account went live, it’s posted just three times. Once in September with a “Hold Yer Horses” message (along with Johnny Blue Skies imaging), and then twice in December. The latest post was a Ghostbusters meme that read:
“There is no Stu, only Johnny Blue Skies.”
Memery is my kind of marketing.
All of the posts have been getting people excited, and thinking that a new project will soon be announced. Why else would an artist who has famously been known for wiping his social media presence fire up a new account and start posting memes? Clearly Johnny Blue Skies has something cooking.
Thanks to The Tennessean, we know that JBS is collaborating with The Black Keys band member, and talented producer in his own right, Dan Auerbach. He’s been nominated for 24 Grammys in his two decades in music, and this year, he could take home the “Producer of the Year” title. Auerbach was talking with The Tennessean about the latest in his career when it was revealed that he’s working with Johnny Blue Skies in 2026:
“In 2026, Auerbach’s got work on the horizon with Sturgill Simpson.”
Clearly they haven’t seen the Ghostbusters meme… otherwise they would have called him JBS right there.
That’s certainly an exciting revelation, though it is a tad bit confusing. The way that was worded sounds like Johnny Blue Skies and Dan Auerbach have plans to work together in the upcoming months. And it was just a couple of months back that the “Scooter Blues” singer revealed to the Red Rocks crowd that they’ve already got a new record put together:
“We just wrapped up a nice little … a new record, in the can. And for all the record labels out there acting like record labels that want to f*** around… f*** around. Find out. I just want to make America f*** again. That’s all.”
@whiskeyriff Come on with it. // 🎥: bknorskn (IG) #whiskeyriff #sturgillsimpson #johnnyblueskies #redrocks ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
So does that mean that Dan Auerbach and Sturgill Simpson Johnny Blue Skies are working on something completely different? Or is the one half of The Black Keys going to put the finishing touches on what JBS already has “in the can?” Heck, while we are throwing questions out there, could Auerbach even end up playing on some of the new Johnny Blue Skies songs? All possible. It wouldn’t be the first time Dan has collaborated in the country music world… he produced John Anderson and Hank Williams Jr.’s most recent albums, and he’s worked with Marcus King, Nikki Lane, Yola, and Leah Blevins upcoming project.
The possibilities are endless, but there is confirmation that the two talented music makers are working together. We might not know the exact capacity of their collaboration, but they are collaborating nonetheless. And Auerbach and Johnny Blue Skies together should certainly be able to come up with something stellar.
