Sturgill Simpson Bestowed Honorary Colonel Status by Home State
That's "Colonel Simpson," thank you very much. On Tuesday, March 20, Sturgill Simpson was given a special honor from Kentucky lawmakers, he was presented with a Kentucky Colonelcy, a title of honor bestowed by the governor.
Simpson, who was born in Jackson, Kentucky, and graduated from Woodford County High School, served in the United States Navy before starting the band Sunday Valley, and eventually launching his GRAMMY winning solo career.
Below is the official resolution which passed unanimously among the Kentucky House of Representatives.
A RESOLUTION honoring Sturgill Simpson.
WHEREAS, the Commonwealth of Kentucky has long celebrated a deep and enduring connection with country, bluegrass, and Americana music; and
WHEREAS, beginning with “hillbilly” music, which would later become known as bluegrass, Kentuckians have duly appreciated both the musical expression of Appalachian musicianship as well as the artists who have built their style around the old-time music that has come to define the bluegrass state; and
WHEREAS, from Loretta Lynn and Crystal Gayle to the master Bill Monroe, Kentucky has long been a place synonymous with true country music; and
WHEREAS, on this day this body honors the next in that line of artists, Kentucky’s own Sturgill Simpson; and
WHEREAS, John Sturgill Simpson was born in Breathitt County on June 8, 1978. A veteran of the United States Navy, he would return to the Commonwealth and form the bluegrass band Sunday Valley in 2004 before leaving music to work on a shipping yard for Union Pacific Railroad; and
WHEREAS, Sturgill Simpson returned to music after moving to Nashville in 2012, and his first solo album, the self-produced High Top Mountain, announced him as a fearless artist who was attempting to return country music to what had brought it into popularity in the 1960s and 1970s. Simpson’s second album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, further cemented him as an artist on the rise, and his breakout, A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, peaked at number one on the country music chart; and
WHEREAS, Sturgill Simpson is often compared to Waylon Jennings and Merle Haggard, two legends whose stripped-down styles were reminiscent of an era when country music was not so layered and over-produced, and when songwriters were much more free to follow their artistic ambitions; and
WHEREAS, in this vein, Sturgill Simpson has also become a fierce critic of top 40 country music. In a now-famous 2016 social media post, he lamented that Nashville should stop producing the “formulaic cannon fodder…they’ve been pumping down rural America’s throat for the last years,” an opinion with which so many inside and outside 3 the music industry wholly agree; and
WHEREAS, it is appropriate that this body honor those artists in this Commonwealth who perform their craft at such a masterful level that they become examples for other aspiring musicians, and who speak such truths that they attract a generation of younger fans to country music while earning the admiration of those who have been diehard fans for decades; and
WHEREAS, in so doing, this body rightfully honors Sturgill Simpson, thanks him for his profound contributions to country music, and grants him best wishes as he continues an already extraordinary career;
NOW, THEREFORE, Be it resolved by the House of Representatives of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky:
Section 1. The members of the House of Representatives hereby honor Sturgill Simpson, and acknowledge him as an artist of the first order.
Section 2. When the House of Representatives adjourns this day, it does so in honor of and gratitude to Sturgill Simpson.
Section 3. The Clerk of the House of Representatives is directed to transmit a copy of this Resolution to Representative Rocky Adkins.