{"id":15187,"date":"2020-10-16T07:52:07","date_gmt":"2020-10-16T12:52:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/garyhayescountry.com\/?p=15187"},"modified":"2023-09-03T20:08:32","modified_gmt":"2023-09-03T20:08:32","slug":"album-feature-sturgill-simpson-cuttin-grass-vol-1-butcher-shoppe-sessions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/garyhayescountry.com\/?p=15187","title":{"rendered":"Album Feature – Sturgill Simpson – Cuttin\u2019 Grass – Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions)"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joshua Wallace<\/b><\/h4>\n

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Sturgill Simpson has released Cuttin\u2019 Grass Vol. 1 (Butcher Shoppe Sessions) as the follow up to last year\u2019s rock record Sound And Fury.  This album turns to bluegrass and re-works 20 of Sturgill\u2019s original tunes into bluegrass tracks.  What really makes this album is that these are totally re-arranged to be bluegrass and not just his old songs played in this style.  It really helps that Sturgill has put together an amazing bluegrass band of some of the best players today with Stuart Duncan, Mike Bub, Sierra Hull, Scott Vestal, Tim O\u2019Brien, Mark Howard and Miles Miller on the record.<\/span><\/h3>\n

There really isn\u2019t a bad track on this album, and it\u2019s the first record I have reviewed here where I recommend the whole album.  Some standouts include a few Sunday Valley tracks with \u201cAll The Pretty Colors\u201d, \u201cI Wonder\u201d and \u201cSometimes Wine\u201d.  I hope we get a few more of these on the potential Vol. 2.  Other high marks include a total re-working of \u201cThe Storm\u201d from the mid-tempo track on High Top Mountain to a thunderous and fast bluegrass track that will have concert halls dancing for sure.  \u201cTurtles\u201d is also slightly sped up for the bluegrass style and it has a totally different feel to it vs the cosmic styling of the Metamodern track.  \u201cLife Of Sin\u201d goes from being a guitar forward twangy country jam to a fiddle forward country flavored bluegrass track.  Indeed, it is the new arrangements for these familiar tracks with some of the best bluegrass players you can put together that makes this much more than a greatest hits album.<\/span><\/h3>\n

Sturgill has done it again with this one and has made what could be another genre defining masterpiece.  This time he has done for bluegrass what Metamodern Sounds In Country Music did for traditional country back in 2014.  Bluegrass is in a resurgence with artists like Billy Strings, Molly Tuttle and others leading the way.  Now Sturgill joins the pack with this collection.  Time will tell if we get a Volume 2 with the rest of his songs and hopefully a bit more Sunday Valley and a bit of Sound and Fury too.  I don\u2019t often review records like this, but this is more than a Greatest Hits album.  These are familiar songs done in a new way with some of the best pickers you can find.  I highly recommend giving this record a spin and I hope we get a bluegrass tour with Sturgill and this band.  Cuttin\u2019 Grass Vol. 1 is out everywhere digitally as of October 16th, 2020 with physical releases later in December.  <\/span><\/h3>\n

Favorite Tracks<\/b> : The Whole Thing<\/span><\/p>\n