Sturgill Simpson Caps Off Two Step Inn, Tweaks Tour Schedule

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Sturgill Simpson has cancelled his shows April 8th at The Wharf in Orange Beach, AL, and the Spokane Arena in Washington on April 19th. He’s playing a surprise show in Austin Monday night (4-7) and says he’ll play more smaller venues moving forward. More info below.

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Sturgill Simpson (or Johnny Blue Skies) capped off a cold, but action packed weekend in Texas at the Two Step Inn Festival just north of Austin. The truncated, but inspired and untethered festival set saw Sturgill and the most legendary lineup of his backing band weaving in and out of recognizable songs from both his own catalog and the canon of popular music. But overall, the performance would be best characterized as one extended jam, with virtually no pauses between songs, and little banter from Sturgill during the 90 minutes.

There were no stage props or special light shows like you normally see from headliners. Instead, it was just Sturgill, guitarist Laur Joamets, Kevin Black on bass, Miles Miller on drums, and keyboardist/saxophone player Robbie Crowell in a rather tight formation at center stage, with the smoke machines billowing incessantly throughout the set and the standard stage lights as the only visible texturing.  

Sturgill got the crowd warmed up when he started the set with the beloved guitar melody of The Allman Brothers’ “Midnight Rider.” This led into a strong a soulful rendition of “Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)” from his Grammy-winning A Sailor’s Guide to Earth, enrapturing the audience in one of the set’s intimate moments.

This was proceeded by perhaps a succession of songs, or maybe one big jam, but it was hard to pick out anything familiar until Sturgill lit into the chorus of Eddie Murphy’s “My Girl Wants To Party All The Time” of all things. Somehow, Sturgill made it work. Only one or maybe a few songs from his new album Passage Du Desir made it on the set, namely “Right Kind of Dream.” About the only distinctly “country” moment of the performance was his jam-like rendition of “Long White Line,” which the crowd loved.

Sturgill quickly addressed the crowd about halfway through the set, asking everyone how their 401K’s were doing. It got a few chuckles, and some grumbles from the crowd before he launched into a big rendition of “Breakers Roar.” The set finished with a epic version of “A Call To Arms,” which at some point broke out into the guitar riff of Led Zeppelin’s “Living Loving Maid” and other tangents.



The show ended just after the hard, 10 PM curfew, with Sturgill Simpson saying, “Thank you very much, Georgetown, Texas…” in a way some remarked felt a little sarcastic, though this could have just been Sturgill’s disposition.

Right before the show, the big video screens displayed that Sturgill would be playing a surprise show at Stubb’s in Austin the next day on Monday, April 7th. He also mentioned it during the set. “We’re gonna play for four hours,” he said. Stubb’s is one of the venues Simpson performed at on his way up. Tickets went on sale at 10 AM Monday morning, and sold out immediately. Limited walk-up tickets will also be available at the gate.

Though this was a big surprise for Sturgill Simpson fans in Austin—which is only 45 minutes from Georgetown—some fans are disappointed that Central Texas is getting two Sturgill Simpson appearances, when he just cancelled his show on April 8th at The Wharf in Orange Beach, AL, and his show at the Spokane Arena in Washington on April 19th. A message sent out to some ticket holders says, “The band has decided to play smaller club shows in select cities. More information to come soon.”

This information jives with the surprise show at Stubb’s in Austin.

Though Sturgill Simpson drew a large crowd to the Two Step Inn on Sunday, it was noticeably smaller than the one for Alan Jackson the night before. Though it’s hard to estimate, it felt like it was about 2/3rds to maybe 1/2 the size. In fact, Treaty Oak Revival who played earlier in the day at the festival had a bigger crowd (more on Treaty Oak Revival soon). It’s also fair to point out that Saturday was dramatically oversold at the Two Step Inn where Sunday felt about right.


Some of Sturgill deciding to cancel dates and instead play club shows probably has to do with the desire to not lose the energy of a live performance in a bigger space, especially since it’s not accompanied by a multimedia presentation like you currently see with Billy Strings, Tyler Childers, and other arena acts. But some of it also probably has to do with lower ticket sales, and it not being worth the production costs to play these big places. Sturgill Simpson is still certainly a major draw, but perhaps not the arena draw they anticipated with his return, at least in certain markets.

Sturgill’s set at Two Step Inn was most certainly enjoyable, and at times, immersive, especially for the folks who stuck around for the big finale. The entire performance acted like a crescendo of energy that you had to experience stem to stern to appreciate fully.

Nonetheless, at times the jamming felt a little self-indulgent, like Sturgill and the band were playing for their own enjoyment with Sturgill’s back to the audience, and the audience was just there to witness it on the periphery. Sturgill would probably not quibble with that assessment, and he’s expressed openly he’s having the time of his life on his recent tours.


But unlike Billy Strings and other jam-like bands who find the right balance between offering the familiar with the improvised, Sturgill’s jams feel a little too nebulous for the full audience to connect to fully. Sturgill has an incredibly soulful and unique voice, and is a great songwriter. Moments showcasing those stellar attributes were fleeting, as was highlighting his country material, or his newer stuff, while it was his Sailor’s Guide era most on display.

All that said, Sturgill took the stage Sunday night, and commanded it not like a scrappy up-and-comer from the country music underground who inexplicably broke through. It was as a guy who is already attained a level of legendary status at the age of 46, and is willing to explore the latitude this station in music affords him, while bringing along those fans willing to follow him into unexplored realms of music.

Sturgill has never been about commercial performance or pleasing anyone but himself. That’s why some fans can feel left behind in previous eras. But that is also why some fans follow Sturgill Simpson (or Johnny Blue Skies) wherever he goes.

Laur Joamets and Miles Miller
Robbie Crowell
Kevin Black

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