The Dread Pirate Johnny Blue Skies is going after a fan who tried to rip off other, loyal members of the pirate ship.
Mutiny After Midnight officially released last Friday (March 13). And no, the album hasn’t popped back up on online. Some fans of the artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson were hoping that Johnny Blue Skies would return the full album back to YouTube after – in what could be one of the more unique and inventive ways to share an album – JBS leaked his own album… then took it away.
Thus, forcing fans who really liked it to rush to stores to get themselves a physical copy.
Originally, fans of Sturgill Simpson and Johnny Blue Skies were patiently waiting for Mutiny After Midnight to release on March 13. Not only that, they were preparing to listen via physical media, as the original announcement of the album said that fans would only be able to get their hands on vinyl, cassette and CDs – A.K.A. no digital or streaming option.
So it was a pleasant surprise when it briefly became available on YouTube for about a week or so. But it also wasn’t all that surprising that Johnny Blue Skies removed it from the free, online platform to once again promote physical media sales. On the day the album came out, the official JBS account shared an entire statement about why Mutiny After Midnight was briefly released on YouTube.
The artist formerly known as Sturgill Simpson also told people they should go buy the project on the physical media option of their choosing, and that if they didn’t… they should pirate it. That’s pretty wild to hear from an artist in this day and age, but it all lines up with the pirate-theming of this Johnny Blue Skies era.
The only problem? One bad apple got the wrong idea and went and made Mutiny After Midnight available on an online music platform called Bandcamp. Some fans that were eager to own the new Sturgill/JBS record digitally went and bought it, and news slowly got out that it was scam.
Johnny Blue Skies himself confirmed that, and shared that they are going after the person who did it:
“SCAM. No, we are not selling the digital album on Bandcamp kids… but somebody pretending to be us is claiming they are. Do not buy this because 1) it doesn’t exist and 2) they ain’t him…
We are in contact with Bandcamp and all appropriate parties in the process, all cc (credit card) and transaction information/IP related info. We got all them tools b*tches! All those affected will be refunded and the miserable sh*t asses responsible will be keelhauled.”
For those not familiar with “keelhauling,” it’s the practice that pirates used to utilize where a wrongdoer is tossed overboard and dragged by the pirate ship. Even worse than walking the plank.
Just in case Johnny Blue Skies didn’t get his point across about the wrath that the person who did this will feel, he hit his social media followers with a very serious reference to a popular 1990s character:
“We’re gonna Duke Nukem.”
Even in the midst of chaos and illegal-selling controversy, the Johnny Blue Skies social media account is meme-ing their way through it all.
To be clear, don’t trust a digital version of Mutiny After Midnight until you hear it straight from the Dread Pirate himself. JBs did say that they’ll release it on streaming “at some point” with some extra songs added onto it. But as of right now, the new album is only available through physical media.
There’s actually only one song that officially exists online as of right now, and its music video is a culmination of chaotic dance memes.
“Situation” by Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds
