Rob’s Album Of The Week: Sturgill Simpson’s Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1

Classifying Sturgill Simpson’s music as just country or anything close to the genre doesn’t make sense these days. What kind of country musician writes songs about aliens and puts out a rock album with an accompanying anime film? That question sums up my point exactly. He’s the kind of musician who is fearless with his approach and gets better with every song he records. With that being said, it’s only fitting that he put out a bluegrass album titled Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1 on his own label, High Top Mountain, on October 15. The record consists of reimaginations of songs from Simpson’s previous releases with a raw and genuine vibe.

The 20 song album was recorded at The Butcher Shoppe in Nashville, hence why “The Butcher Shoppe Sessions” is often added to the title. It’s a release that caught folks by surprise, but it’s an excellent example of how music is being released in the era of COVID-19. After recovering from the virus back in April, Simpson found that him and some of the finest bluegrass musicians around didn’t have much to do with live music and touring being put on hold. So the likes of mandolinist Sierra Hull, bassist Mike Bub, fiddle player Stuart Duncan, banjo aficionado Scott Vestal and a few others joined him in the studio to make a fantastic album. There’s no frills and no filler, it’s simply string instruments being…