Sturgill Simpson

A native of Jackson, Kentucky raised near Lexington, Simpson has deep southern roots, but he moved out west once he reached his late teens. In 2004, he formed Sunday Valley, receiving a big break when they played Portland, Oregon's Pickathon Festival in 2011. Sturgill went solo in 2012, beginning work on the album that became High Top Mountain, which appeared the following year. After extensive touring, Simpson settled down in studio to concentrate on his next recording. He experimented with stretching the boundaries of his chosen genre, digging deep into topics like physics and evolution as evidenced by his pre-release single, "Turtles (All The Way Down)." The Dave Cobb-produced album, Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, appeared in May of 2014 and peaked in the top ten on all of the country charts.The album was nominated for a Grammy Award for best country album. Simpson won Best Emerging Artist at that year's Americana Music Awards, and in 2015 was named Artist Of The Year by the same foundation.~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Photo Credit: Reto Sterchi