Sturgill Simpson Appears in New Trailer for CBS Series “One Dollar”
As first revealed in March, Sturgill Simpson will make his acting debut as a recurring character in a new CBS television drama series called “One Dollar.” The on-demand series is a mystery set in a small rust belt town in post-recession America, where a one-dollar bill changing hands connects a group of characters involved in a multiple murder. The series began taping in March in Pittsburgh, and is set to debut via CBS All Access on Thursday, August 30th.
Sturgill Simpson portrays Ken Fry, who is a resident of the town of Braden where the series is set. The character used to work at the steel mill where the murders occur until he was let go. He now makes his living as a small-time fence, holding a never-ending yard sale with items stolen from front yards and porches. Simpson can be seen multiple times in the 2-minute trailer for the series that has just been released (see below). If the trailer is any indication, this isn’t just a small cameo role for Sturgill.
Other cast members in the series include John Carroll Lynch, Nathaniel Martello-White, Philip Ettinger, Chris Denham, Kirrilee Berger, and Gracie Lawrence, with Leslie Odom Jr., and Jeff Perry. The primary character is Bud “Pop” Carl (John Carl Lynch) who is the owner of the steel mill and family business called Carl Steel. Nathaniel Martello-White plays a private investigator looking into the murders. The path of the dollar bill and point of view in each episode paint a picture of a modern American town with deep class and cultural divides that spill out into the open as the town’s secrets get revealed.
Though Sturgill Simpson has never worked in any major acting roles before, he has made numerous appearances on television, including in sketches with Stephen Colbert on The Late Show, which is also a CBS production. Simpson has also appeared twice on Saturday Night Live as a musical guest. He also played a small role in the independent movie Orca Park from 2011, and has made other cameos.
August 13, 2018 @ 6:33 pm
I am really curious to see how he is in this. If this is something he has a big interest in then maybe best case scenario you have the career Dwight Yoakum has as a musician/actor and that would be pretty damn good if you ask me.
August 17, 2018 @ 1:59 pm
Kristofferson also combined both quite well.
August 17, 2018 @ 8:50 pm
Nice one, don’t know how that one slipped my mind. I loved almost everything Kristofferson was in.
August 13, 2018 @ 6:56 pm
Pretty cool. It looks interesting.
August 13, 2018 @ 7:18 pm
We’re all waiting patiently for your review of the new Shooter record…
August 13, 2018 @ 11:08 pm
The Shooter Jennings album isn’t being ignored any more than the William Clark Green album, or The War and the Treaty album, or the Robbie Fulks and Linda Gail Lewis album. It was a busy release day last Friday, and each album deserves to be regarded with care and a quality review crafted before it’s posted. I’m only one person.
August 14, 2018 @ 9:57 am
I’m waiting on the Lucero review
August 13, 2018 @ 11:55 pm
im not. his music sucks
August 14, 2018 @ 8:31 am
ditto
August 14, 2018 @ 4:42 pm
Thank you for saying that. I could go on a long spiel about how much he sucks, but he’s not worth the time.
August 18, 2018 @ 2:38 pm
I feel like he sucks some but not all the time.
August 13, 2018 @ 8:11 pm
So no more country albums, I take it.
August 13, 2018 @ 9:34 pm
That’s a weird and nonsensical takeaway from this, but not a surprising one in this day and age.
August 14, 2018 @ 4:47 am
No it isn’t. Acting on a TV show looks to be the priority over making music. That is a perfect thing to assume after seeing this. Don’t be such an idiot.
August 14, 2018 @ 6:29 am
Sturgill discussed earlier this year that he’s planning on releasing a double album in 2019. He still tours festivals and has shown up in random places playing lead guitar for Stapleton and Childers. He still has country deeply ingrained in his soul and will release another country album at some point. He’s a super creative guy like Donald Glover that has multiple artistic interests and is a savant level musician in multiple genres. Let the dude create without immediately hating on him for it. Anything he contributes to the arts will leave humanity in a better position than if he didn’t. I love his country music more than anything but I’m happy to get any artistic contribution from him at this point.
August 14, 2018 @ 7:55 am
didnt jerry reed act and make music simultaneously?
August 14, 2018 @ 3:20 pm
Donald Glover said he’s retiring from his music career after he releases this new album
August 14, 2018 @ 3:33 pm
And Sturgill said he’s done after five albums. They’re very similar.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:14 am
A single episode of a scripted TV series takes about a week to shoot, per episode, and not all the actors have to be present the entire time.
For a small part, I don’t think Sturgill would be spending more than a couple months out of the year on this. Still plenty of time to write and record music, and tour.
As somebody else mentioned, Donald Glover balances a music career (recording and touring), a film career, and a TV writing/producing/acting career just fine.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:53 am
Good Lord. The guy put out 3 great albums over a 4 year period, and toured extensively during that time….what more do you want from him in the immediate future? Nobody else in the business who puts out quality albums has that kind of productivity. Let him take some time off, just like every other musician does between putting out albums. And actually, he has a pretty busy festival schedule this year, so you can’t really call it taking time off from music. As it relates to the acting thing, this one limited role hardly says anything about his “priorities”. People can do more than one thing at a time.
August 14, 2018 @ 3:37 pm
My theory is Sturgill had no deep writing bone. So when he heard Tyler, he made his peace with that. This would explain why Laur got gone when the going was good.
August 14, 2018 @ 6:39 pm
I think one can look at his catalog and see that he’s got the writing bone. In fact, I think his ability and need to be creative is the biggest driver behind people having a beef with his albums ……. i.e. him evolving and not putting out High Top Mountain over and over again. And apparently, doing it every year in perpetuity, judging by some of these comments.
August 14, 2018 @ 7:29 pm
Total exaggeration. Should we even start to list the great musicians who had acting careers? Much less great country musicians? It’s a pretty impressive list if you want to.
Not to mention the guy has recorded his albums in matter of days. Some of you guys crack me up. (See creative writing bone and Laur deciding to walk away comments below)
August 15, 2018 @ 9:52 am
All good points. In fact, I think it could be accurately said that Sturgill has an ability to write and crank out unique, interesting product (including his insane approach to studio / recording sessions) that is unmatched by anyone out there right now.
August 15, 2018 @ 4:49 am
Hahaha. My ideas are perfect, i tell you! PERFECT!!!!!
You definitely seem like a champion of critical thinking.
August 13, 2018 @ 9:01 pm
Not to get political but I think Sturgill fits better with the Hollywood left than he does with country music. I know for a while he was the golden boy of this site but I just never could get into his music. I just think of artist like Randy Rogers Band or Cody Jinks and that is country music. I just never listened to Sturgill and thought that is country. He is talented but I have never felt he was a good representative of what country music is or should be.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:18 am
That’s a stupid opinion.
Ronald Reagan was an effing Hollywood movie star and was a Republican President of the United States.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:56 am
If Sturgill Simpson’s plan to hobnob with the “Hollywood left” was to sign up to participate in an internet-only show shot in crumbling, rusting Pittsburgh, then the jokes on him.
How in the world did this turn into a political discussion? Me and Doyle Hargraves are dumbfounded.
August 14, 2018 @ 9:26 am
Exactly. His roots are about as country as they get. Willie probably has the same political views and no one says he isn’t country enough. Good grief.
August 15, 2018 @ 10:34 am
sounds like Randy and Morris when we get the band together
August 14, 2018 @ 3:26 pm
What are you talking about? Reagan came from an era when California was a red state. From 1952 to 1988 the majority of California voted for Republican Presidents
August 14, 2018 @ 8:31 am
Glad he never got your approval, oh gatekeeper of what is country music. Since when did country music have a political leaning?
August 14, 2018 @ 8:44 am
Are you implying that country music has to reflect purely conservative values? The spectrum is wide, and Sturgill generally comes across as libertarian to me. Pro-recreational drug use, anti-war (the man served, so I think he’s entitled to an opinion more than most), religiously agnostic etc.
Not radically “left” in my opinion, though I would argue a lot of his mainstream/hipster popularity is due to to his perceived lefty leanings by new fans curious about country but wary of it’s perceived conservative rhetoric.
Speaking of Cody Jinks, isn’t he a bit politically agnostic/fluid too? I think in this day and age of toxic reactionary politics it’s a good idea for musicians/artists to stay a little ambiguous.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:49 am
“I just never listened to Sturgill and thought that is country.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_Top_Mountain
August 14, 2018 @ 9:06 am
High Top, sure. The new one? Hardly.
August 14, 2018 @ 10:06 am
It was pretty well publicised that the last album wasn’t meant to be a country album and hightop is probably one of the best country albums of the last decade. He could play the kazoo for the rest of his life and I would be ok with it for the simple fact that he gave us hightop mountain.
August 14, 2018 @ 10:38 am
True, but I’m not listening. I like any number of musical styles. However, that’s not why I read this blog or listen to any Sturgill. My eyes just glaze over at the mention of his name at thia point.
August 14, 2018 @ 9:05 am
Not to get political but I’m about to talk about politics. Ok.
God bless the people who just listen to music, even if they don’t agree 100% with the political beliefs of artists…not that I’m talking about politics or anything.
August 14, 2018 @ 10:11 am
Co-sign.
I’ve been a country fan since the 70’s and I’m a progressive liberal.
A few weeks ago I went searching for Cherokee Fiddle, because I always thought it was a decent tune, and found some newer song by Johnny Lee where he was clearly pandering to the 2A crowd for record sales.
The song was garbage to my ears, but that doesn’t make me like Cherokee Fiddle any less.
There are left leaning country artists and right leaning country artists, just like in everything else in life, and no one side gets to own music.
I wish we could just all turn up the speaker and leave the political garbage at the curb.
And good whisky makes my guitar playing better, too.
August 14, 2018 @ 1:18 pm
So, is ‘Old king coal’ left or right?
Or is it simply an educated, passionate response to well meaning egotistical hipsters?
There is no left or right, there’s just life.
August 14, 2018 @ 1:40 pm
I think Old King Coal is a song written by a guy from Kentucky who was telling a story.
I think it’s got a little of everything in it, if you want to dig deep enough.
Sorry for the pun.
Damn, that was a good example, well done.
August 15, 2018 @ 6:21 am
But here you are spending your time in a blog post about SS
August 14, 2018 @ 7:33 pm
Those (political) comments sound a lot like I use hear about Kris Kristofferson. Country singers don’t have to wave rebel flags you know.
August 13, 2018 @ 9:44 pm
The show has some good actors, and incredible production value for a CBS show, but that trailer didn’t really pull me in. I think a change of music would benefit it, and maybe a change in the editing. That being said, I’ve seen some terrible trailers for great movies and truly well done, interesting trailers for utter trash. With the talent involved, I hope this turns out to be something good.
August 14, 2018 @ 1:09 am
You’re right. It looks good but the music in the first half seems off and in the second half it’s much better.
August 14, 2018 @ 3:57 am
Trigger…you should put the Damian O’Grady album on your list too.
The name is From 9 ‘Til 1 & was released last week too.
The guy is mixing classic country, swing & rockabilly. Can’t get enough of the dancehall floor-filler “Back Again”, “Cry Like A Steel Guitar” & the unusual duet with Brennen Leigh “You Ain’t Good Enough”.
The Fulks/Lewis album is great, the William Clark Green album is good (prefer the first half of the tracks but the album is too long with 14 tracks) & the Shooter Jennings album is not my kind of music.
August 14, 2018 @ 7:37 am
So let me get this straight because I’m a crusty old fuck. There’s a station called “CBS All Access” and they put original shows (series) on it that aren’t good enough for network TV and they want me to pay for it and I have to stream it on the internet? I don’t love Sturgill THAT much I’m sorry. If I’m wrong someone please help me out here.
August 14, 2018 @ 10:14 am
From what I’ve gathered, CBS All Access is where CBS puts shows that would be more suitable for a cable channel, like FX or AMC. A relatively “high brow” show like One Dollar doesn’t seem like it would fit in with the rest of CBS’s lineup of 15 different NCIS spin-offs and Big Bang Theories, police procedurals, etc. I can’t imagine the show is going to have much of an audience, regardless of quality. With HBO, Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon out there, I don’t see CBS All Access carving out a significant niche in the streaming game. Their shows tend to pull in an older audience, and older audiences tend to not stream their television content.
August 14, 2018 @ 10:17 pm
Jb Chicago is right. I mean think about how many cable channels CBS/Viacom must own. That’s a friggin conglomerate of media outlets. The only decent streaming service that is related to one of the big broadcasters is NBC & Hulu. The fact that one dollar is on CBS’ streaming service means there’s a good chance it won’t be good. Just saying. Series and movies on streaming services can be very hit or miss imo, even on Netflix, considering how much they invest in original content. The big broadcasters may be dinosaurs on their way to extinction, but there’s no replacing the experience you accumulate after 100 years of producing content going back to the golden age of radio. I, like most people, have limited time for streaming a show, and there is a shitload of content these days, and subscriptions add up, so this one isn’t on my shortlist. This show is in the minor leagues, but who knows? Maybe it will defy the odds.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:14 am
If anything, your thinking that original shows not put on network tv “aren’t good enough for network tv” is the epitome of being a “crusty old fuck,” Gramps.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:54 am
$10 a month for CBS’ version of Netflix? Not a chance.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:15 am
Sounds like an interesting show, and worth checking out just to see if Simpson has some acting chops.
August 14, 2018 @ 3:50 pm
He’s trying to provide for his family. Saving country music is not his life’s ambition. “High Top” was average. “Metamodern” was more style than substance. “Sailor’s” was a departure. He’ll do two more sorta edgy efforts, play them with a big chip on his shoulder, and then call it a day. My money (and his, probably) is on Tyler Childers, who has a lyrical gift and the compulsion to write. Tyler’s next record will probably be just as good if not better than Purgatory and realize Sturgill’s acid country dream better than he could himself. I wish them both well, but it is clear that Tyler has the torch at this point. Eastern Kentucky is on fire, God bless their mountain souls.
August 14, 2018 @ 5:49 pm
I don’t disagree that the torch is with Childers, but I do disagree on Sturgill’s first two records. High Top was anything but “average” and Metamodern was quite substantial. Honestly, I think High Top is one of the most important albums of the decade. He also made it for his Grandfather which makes it all the more special.
August 14, 2018 @ 6:56 pm
I agree fully with this take. I think Sturgill’s relevance has passed to some degree, but High Top Mountain was a masterpiece, and a good deal more influential than folks give it credit for.
August 14, 2018 @ 10:24 pm
I don’t think we should put all that on Tyler tho because his mentor is…Sturgill Simpson. Do we really think Tyler is gonna worry about staying in the role that we annointing him with. We’re setting ourselves up for more disappointment if we do that. You’re better off hitching your wagon to whitey or Cody or someone like that. The first piece of evidence is on the very record we all love…Universal Sound. But please Tyler, prove me wrong!
August 15, 2018 @ 6:32 am
If Tyler has a mentor it would be Laid Back. Sturgill has come on board as an extra pair of ears and opened a few doors.
August 15, 2018 @ 9:06 am
What’s the worry with “Universal Sound”? It’s old-fashioned train beat on the hi hat. Sure there’s delay on the guitar, but delay goes back to Echoplex and Scotty Moore (at least). Lyrically it had me at “cranberry glades” and cinched the deal with “thoughts that bark like hounds.” Everything on that record is stone cold country IMHO. No anointing required.
August 14, 2018 @ 4:34 pm
What is CBS?
August 15, 2018 @ 10:40 am
Terribly clever comment
August 14, 2018 @ 5:26 pm
Jd wilkes says he laid down harp tracks for sturgills new album and said it was killer music
August 14, 2018 @ 6:44 pm
That’s great to hear. I’d be happier actually to be proved wrong in my predictions.
August 14, 2018 @ 8:04 pm
“Catchy tunes, ” I believe, is how JD Wilkes described them
August 14, 2018 @ 7:08 pm
And Sturgill was invited to play his new album for Rick Rubin who seemed to dig it. My guess is that the next one is in the can and when the band gets a break they will record the “final” one. Sturgill has promised to make another country record. They will all be amazing, as he can’t NOT make great music. But he refuses to make superfluous music.
August 15, 2018 @ 6:05 am
Um, I would argue that “he can’t NOT make great music” thing, but to quote the country song, I’ve got better things to do.
August 15, 2018 @ 8:25 am
A genius in our midst.
Maybe he can sing opera or play w a chamber orchestra next…
To quote Sal ” we ain’t great, we’re just some guy’s from Jersey”
August 15, 2018 @ 1:30 pm
A lot of the greats have done some acting in their career, Cash, Willie, Kristofferson among others. I think Ryan Bingham has been great on Yellowstone so far an I have no doubt that Sturgill can follow suit with this show.
August 23, 2018 @ 2:00 am
After hearing about it here, I rented Orca Park on Amazon. It’s a weird little movie but Sturgill is scary good in it, definitely worth checking out.