Sturgill Simpson Deletes Social Media Feeds After Leaving Cryptic Message

What is going on with Sturgill Simpson these days? That answer just became a lot harder to come by after the Grammy-winning singer and performer wiped his social media feeds somewhere around Tuesday, October 24th.
Deleting all the content on his social media feeds is something Simpson has done numerous times before, and sometimes in preparation of a big announcement such as a new tour. However this time it was quite a deeper cleansing. Not only is all his Twitter and Instagram content completely gone, so are the accounts themselves. Searches or clicks on buttons for these social media feeds return “Page Not Found” errors.
Simpson’s Facebook page does remain active, but only displays basic tour and merch information, including the fact that he does have a festival appearance coming up on April 20th, 2018 at the Sweetwater 420 Festival in Atlanta. So we know he hasn’t completely fallen off the face of the earth, or retreated to a hermitage in Asia minor … at least we think.
Simpson had only scantly used Twitter recently anyway, but had been using Instagram to post things upon occasion, including during his recent trip to Japan that was a hit with followers. The last thing Simpson posted on Instagram right before deleting the feed was a rather cryptic message about how his whole “country” (in quotes) career would be defined by a certain number of releases (something he’s done before), and was inspired by a line of verse by Kris Kristofferson.
He’s a poet, he’s a picker
He’s a prophet, he’s a liar
He’s a pilgrim and a preacher
and a problem when he’s stoned
He’s a walking contradiction
partly truth, partly fiction
Taking every wrong direction
only his lonely way back home
The line of verse is from Kristofferson’s song “The Pilgrim.”
Sturgill Simpson was initially planning to take the entirety of 2017 off in anticipation of the birth of his second child, but scrapped those plans after he was nominated for multiple Grammy awards, including Best Country Album which he won in February, as well as the vaunted all-genre Album of the Year. This afforded Simpson a performance slot on the presentation, and inspired him to book a smallish, but nation-spanning 2017 tour, which wrapped up on Saturday, October 14th in Sugar Land, TX, just southwest of Houston. The tour featured Simpson with a stripped-down band, with Sturgill playing his own lead guitar.
So what will 2018 have in store for Sturgill Simpson? New album and new tour? Could he produce more projects like he did for critically-acclaimed Tyler Childers in 2017? Well just have to see. But don’t rule out anything, Twitter or Instagram feeds notwithstanding.
November 1, 2017 @ 8:43 am
CIA assassin. Just ask Ol’ wheeler
November 1, 2017 @ 8:44 am
I’m guessing a hip-hop oriented EDM record but you never know. I’m down for whatever he does. Maybe death metal? A reggae record with the surviving members of the Wailers? A spoken word album with a background of ambient noise run through a tape loop and a home-made effects box? What would shock us at this point?
November 1, 2017 @ 10:17 am
For some reason you reminded me of the Tyler Childers show I saw couple weeks back.
He asked people if they like Willie Nelson and Red Headed Stranger album.
He said he wanted to get his hair all dreaded out and wanted to cover the whole album reggae style. He would call it Dread Headed Stranger. LOL
Started singing a couple verses reggae style before jumping into a stellar Willie cover.
November 1, 2017 @ 8:46 am
I know he’s scheduled to play the Sweetwater 420 fest in Atlanta. Maybe he’s turneing into a jam band or something.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:29 pm
God I hope he doesn’t go that route. I love jam bands but it would be a terrible move for him.
November 5, 2017 @ 7:33 am
That’s the EXACT word I used for his show at Red Rocks. Not exclusively, but much of it was. It was really good, but, and this is going to sound really shallow, at least 3 of the songs could have been 2-3 minutes shorter for my money.
Also, I miss Laur.
November 1, 2017 @ 8:53 am
“The line of verse is from Kristofferson’s song “The Pilgrim.””
Well, I don’t know what Sturgill is up to but “The Pilgrim” is not only a song but
damn good song. So lets hope he is up to something good. I mean he can’t go wrong if he gonna do something inspired by that song… 🙂
November 1, 2017 @ 9:27 am
He changed “pusher” to “liar.” Maybe it’s a hint that he’s just messing with us?
November 1, 2017 @ 9:41 am
I’ve seen YouTube videos of Kris singing it live and swapping in liar in the second part. Around 2:20 here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikn7qzevcyc
November 1, 2017 @ 11:12 am
Haha, probably, didn’t noticed that…. He starts do behave like my favorite sisters (FAK) they also use to leave some riddles to solve when they are going to do something special like announce a new album release for example…
November 1, 2017 @ 8:54 am
Sturgill is the most interesting man in the world.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:06 am
Isn’t he taking a page out of Taylor Swift’s playbook right now..?
November 1, 2017 @ 9:28 am
It’s vice versa, if anything. Sturgill was wiping his feeds well before Tay Tay did it ahead of her recent rollout, though I’m sure others have done it before him.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:59 pm
Jimi Hendrix deleted all his social media accounts before releasing Electric Ladyland…true story…based on real life events…
November 1, 2017 @ 9:09 am
The line is actually “He’s a prophet, he’s a pusher,” not “liar,” though I can understand why he’d want to change it, so no harm done.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:36 am
Wouldn’t be the first time Sturgill mis-recollected lyrics. Remember on Nirvana’s “In Bloom” he changed the last line of the chorus, and swore that’s how it was in the song until someone told him different. That’s probably the songwriter in him always trying to improve on lines. Or maybe it’s part of a more cryptic message.
The way the lyrics were written out here is the way he had them posted on Instagram. But you’re right, the line was changed. Maybe because Sturgill has sworn off hard drugs?
November 1, 2017 @ 9:42 am
Kris often swaps out pusher for liar when doing it live. Around 2:20 here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ikn7qzevcyc
November 1, 2017 @ 9:14 am
Too bad, because his instagram feed was one of the more entertaining accounts ever. I think he is probably just laying low and spending time with the family…..and he has always seemed to get a kick out of keeping people guessing. My guess is we won’t see another album for a few years (his last 4 years have been ridiculously productive, so not sure anyone can fault him if that’s what he does), and that he will produce a few albums in that timeframe.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:20 am
But, as I posted that it just occurred to me that he also doesn’t work in the same stratosphere as other musicians. He recorded ASGTE in about a week, and that was after going into the studio with a band that had never even heard the songs. Similar timeline and process with Metamodern, I believe. Given that insane ability / efficiency, I guess it wouldn’t be all that surprising if another album is out sooner rather than later.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:29 am
ASGTE was sitting on the shelf for almost a year before anyone was aware of it’s existence. It’s perfectly possible has recorded another album already and hasn’t told anyone yet. Or maybe not.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:36 am
He already has another record written, not sure if he’s recorded anything.
November 1, 2017 @ 7:42 pm
What’s your source on that?
November 1, 2017 @ 9:07 pm
I know a guy that knows a guy 😉 I bet Trigger believes me 🙂
November 2, 2017 @ 8:21 am
I heard the same thing during one of his interviews…will see if I can find it.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:22 am
He’s so dramatic.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:43 am
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10212553267239513&set=p.10212553267239513&type=3&theater
After seeing the above screenshot, I think the post was likely meant as more of a clever joke, and there probably isn’t any real message to be conveyed. But who knows!
November 1, 2017 @ 9:48 am
Maybe he’s just sick of it and quit.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:05 am
Old Sturgill is dead. I welcome our new Chris Gaines styled overlord.
November 1, 2017 @ 2:27 pm
I’m sorry, the Old Sturgill can’t come to the phone right now…
November 1, 2017 @ 5:32 pm
Hahah
November 1, 2017 @ 10:31 am
Sunday Valley reunion? Wishful thinking..
November 1, 2017 @ 12:47 pm
I need a rereleased “I Don’t Mind”in my life.
November 1, 2017 @ 1:01 pm
That song is great!
November 1, 2017 @ 5:28 pm
Yeah, that would be good news.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:07 pm
Can only hope. I got so hooked on the older, unique country sound of Sturgill and Sunday Valley in their YouTube videos. I went and saw Sturgill in September 2017 and was underwhelmed. I started zoning out with all of the extended jamming. Another thing that got me was how much quicker they played some songs in concert, I know it’s his songs, but frustrating as a fan to hear Turtles All The Way Down faster than done in the past. Not sure why he feels the need to do so many covers when he has some better originals. I believe I became a fan three years too late.
November 2, 2017 @ 3:08 am
Know what you mean. Haven’t seen him in concert, but have been following him since 2013 and feel like his two most recent albums don’t compare to Sunday Valley and his first solo.
November 2, 2017 @ 5:45 am
Hearing Turtles at all would get me zoning. Can’t stand that song.
November 2, 2017 @ 9:14 am
His format for the latest tour (which was a one-off limited tour coming off of the grammy win) was intentionally designed to be a different interpretation of his songs, with a slimmed down band. I wouldn’t take it as an indication of where his direction is headed, and he even admitted that the format was a little self indulgent, and that it was the leanest and meanest band he will ever have the opportunity to play with. I think that also explains the covers…..he has already toured extensively behind each of his albums, and played them in their as-recorded form.
November 2, 2017 @ 10:22 am
I knew it would be a slimmed down band, and I’m cool with that. I’m not a big brass horns guy. Oh well, at least I can listen to the Sunday Valley and High Top Mountain releases. I’ll definitely stay a fan, and keep up with his latest work. I applaud Sturgill for wanting to try new things, just different tastes is all.
November 2, 2017 @ 11:37 am
Completely agree. My hope is that he will return to a larger band format, with a steel player and another lead player, or at least a co-lead player. He is an incredible lead player, but let’s face it, he also needs to focus on his vocal clarity live, and that is hard to do when gyrating around the stage and having to constantly prepare mentally or otherwise for the next 5 minute solo that you are about to launch into. As cool as it was to see, I also think it wasn’t the best move to decide to do the band and song format change (agree that getting rid of the horns was ok…..that was more of a special thing for the ASGTE album) for a tour that he knew was going to attract a lot of new fans from the grammy and SNL performance who had never seen him before. Would have been a better career move to go out and play the songs in a more traditional manner. But, i think he gets a kick out of changing things up and kind of pissing people off a bit ; )
November 1, 2017 @ 11:08 am
Such a diva. I love it! Hes probably just doing it to keep people guessing. He gets one thing most new artists don’t. A little mystery goes a long way. I wish I could disappear from social media but it’s a big part of my job, so no dice. Really looking forward to the next release.
November 1, 2017 @ 11:38 am
Yes, but how did he delete the accounts? Did he do it the old fashioned way, or was it all done with computers?
November 1, 2017 @ 12:33 pm
Please, please, please, let him be retiring. What a blessing that would be.
November 1, 2017 @ 2:24 pm
I think the same thing about your stint as the house “I hate everything” commenter on SCM, Honkster. I think you still have another few good years in ya, though! ; ) And nobody is forcing you to listen to Sturgill. You still have Midland, so don’t fret.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:54 pm
What would you talk about if Sturgill retired?
November 1, 2017 @ 9:30 pm
I meant to reply to Honky, sorry J.
November 2, 2017 @ 9:16 am
I know, Gina. But to answer your question, I would cry like a baby and not leave the house for a few months. I mean, Sturgill is my hero and savior afterall. Haha! ; )
November 1, 2017 @ 4:55 pm
“Don’t fret” LOL. If he prefers Midland to Sturgill, I’m pretty sure he doesn’t know a fretboard from his elbow.
November 1, 2017 @ 5:32 pm
Honky is the resident hipster contrarian.
November 1, 2017 @ 7:22 pm
Just the opposite, actually. Sturgill is way too indie for me. He’s not mainstream enough. Plus, he blows.
November 1, 2017 @ 8:27 pm
You are definitely a character Honky.
November 1, 2017 @ 10:18 pm
Honky i am genuinely curious as to who your favorite country artists are, past and present. I honestly cannot wrap my head around the idea that any real country music fan could dislike Sturgill Simpson and Willie Nelson. No disrepect meant i just would like to understand.
November 2, 2017 @ 3:46 am
Curious George,
I love Haggard, Jones, Keith Whitley, Charley Pride, Conway, Porter, Ray Price, and just about everyone else that rose to fame in the 50’s, 60’s, and 70’s.
For modern acts, I love all the early 90’s folks. For current acts, there’s not much that impresses me, but Mo Pitney is good, along with William Michael Morgan.
I don’t hate Willie. He’s just no big deal to me. He’s a much better writer than he is a singer.
November 2, 2017 @ 7:39 am
I could agree Willie is a better writer than singer. But he certainly had his moments of vocal brilliance. Red headed Stranger and Tougher than Leather are two examples. 70’s and 80’s Willie had a great voice.
November 3, 2017 @ 5:57 pm
Honky mentions Keith Whitley but Sturgill isn’t his taste, then you don’t like Keith Whitley. There is quite a bit of similarity between the two. I’m thinkin instigating troll
November 2, 2017 @ 7:28 am
More like entitled purist.
November 2, 2017 @ 10:37 am
Entitled to what?
November 2, 2017 @ 10:30 pm
Feminine music like Mo Pitney.
November 3, 2017 @ 6:33 am
Oh come on Ulysses. I love Mo’s song “boy and a girl thing”. Sooo cute, and it brings a tear to my eye every time I listen to it. HA!
November 1, 2017 @ 9:12 pm
I swear, I hear nothing but negativity and whining from this guy.
November 1, 2017 @ 9:14 pm
See, not hear. Had to correct myself there. But yeah…such a curmudgeon. Have a Snickers.
November 2, 2017 @ 5:01 pm
How dare you! What I like is good, how can you not like it! I’m right and you’re wrong…:)
November 1, 2017 @ 12:42 pm
Did you copy/paste The Pilgrim lyrics? Because some dumbass got them wrong.
November 1, 2017 @ 2:17 pm
Sturgill is about to drop an electronic influenced rocking blues record.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:27 pm
I am a fucking useless hypocrite to post on the issue. All social media is death to great music. Fuck em and feed em fruit loops.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:50 pm
Kristopherson wrote that about Johnny Cash but I know most of y’all know that. I just wanted to point that out bc maybe that’s a piece of the puzzle. I don’t much about Sturgill btw so don’t look too deep into my observation.
November 1, 2017 @ 3:57 pm
Guy’s definitely an interesting cat. But hey, even if he never releases another country record, High Top Mountain is still the first real country album I ever bought and is responsible for getting me into a bunch of other great stuff. For that I’ll always be grateful.
November 1, 2017 @ 4:16 pm
I ‘ve tried to care………just can’t .
Not meaning to offend anyone…..just don’t get it and I’ve pretty-much given up trying .
November 1, 2017 @ 8:19 pm
I’m with Albert and Honky on this. Just don’t care.
November 2, 2017 @ 11:41 am
Your reading the article and chiming in via the comment section seems to contradict that.
November 2, 2017 @ 4:08 pm
To be clear, Scruffy, I care, just in the opposite direction. I care about Country Music, and it’s offensive to me that this hack is being propped up as some modern day legend. I would call it a joke, but it’s not funny.
November 2, 2017 @ 10:29 pm
He ain’t no hack. He’s got more talent than you could ever hope for. Now let me go crank up some Sturgill hoss.
November 3, 2017 @ 6:24 am
Again, your credibility is low on this subject honky, given your past posts extolling Midland, and constantly holding up this guy as being the best out there. https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=WHGk3pvSYT8
There is more to a good song than the vocals, girl, fitting into your narrow definition, girl, of what a country singer must sound like exactly, girl. : )
November 3, 2017 @ 9:15 am
I might like him a little more if I could understand what the hell he was mumbling about. If you cut your teeth on 50’s, 60’s, 70’s country it’s a bit hard to accept him as the best country has to offer.
I’m hoping maybe he’s taking some time off for speech therapy.
November 3, 2017 @ 9:43 am
I don’t have as hard a time as some people claim to have in understanding him, but if you highly value vocal clarity and his authentic kentucky drawl is annoying, I can understand that. His lyrics are included with all of his music, and there may be a few you have to look up, but once you know them, you can understand what he’s saying. Definitely something that is unique about him when compared to more over-produced, polished acts. Overall, that argument to me is kind of like my parents yelling at me when I was in middle school for listening to heavy metal, saying “what is that crap, you can’t even understand the lyrics!”.
Finally, I don’t think there are as many people as you think who are saying that he is without a doubt the end all be all “best country has to offer”. That seems to get thrown around a lot as an accusation, but note entirely sure where it comes from.
November 3, 2017 @ 4:38 pm
I have no problem understanding him. God forbid someone stray from the boring polished feminine sound.
November 1, 2017 @ 5:27 pm
I think those words sum the man up about as well as one can….and that’s what he is admitting.
Maybe releasing the 4th album of the 5 he has always said he will release. He’s on record saying he has all the material in his head to cut the next two so wouldn’t surprise me.
November 1, 2017 @ 6:43 pm
Which do you think is most likely:
A- he releases another country-ish record
B- he goes rock-n-roll with this next one
C- he jumps the music industry’s shark and successfully merges all musical genres in one album (and somehow it still sounds great)
November 1, 2017 @ 7:25 pm
Please don’t limit my options to a few limited choices. It sickens me. I’ll expect whatever I damn well please…not unlike how Sturgill’s gonna make whatever the hell he damn well pleases! (And it will somehow still be great!)
November 1, 2017 @ 7:13 pm
social media is of the devil..
November 2, 2017 @ 2:24 am
Simpson’s music IS NOT country. I do not like him, and never will.
November 2, 2017 @ 10:31 pm
His first 2 albums were country. If you don’t think so you don’t really know anything about country music.
November 3, 2017 @ 5:45 am
If those albums were so country, why didn’t they get played on country radio? (Heavy sarcasm).
November 3, 2017 @ 6:20 am
His 3rd album is also just as, if not more, country than many other things that seem to get lumped into the category of acceptable listening these days by “country purists” (Isbell, Turnpike Troubadours, Moreland to name a few). Doesn’t really matter in the end. But to me, his vocal delivery, many of the song structures, the steel guitar on every song but 1, and badass way it was written, recorded and produced (very outlaw, for all you purists), make it more country than those mentioned above, and others. Not to mention that it has one of, if not the, best country song of 2016 on it…Sea Stories.
November 3, 2017 @ 2:09 pm
Right on. Sea Stories is a way underrated tune.
November 2, 2017 @ 7:22 am
I second this!
November 2, 2017 @ 7:19 pm
I think Sturgill could be the greatest pure country singer we have seen in over 10 years if he wanted to. But it appears that is not what he wants to be or do. I am in the camp with Honky, until he comes back to his country roots I’m not going to buy an album of anybodies if it isn’t country, period. However, I do like how he bashes the Nashville establishment any chance he gets.
November 3, 2017 @ 5:47 am
I think Sturgill could be the greatest pure country singer we have seen in over 10 years if he wanted to.
No, I don’t think you’re in Honky’s camp. Not exactly, anyway.
November 3, 2017 @ 6:16 am
He actually hasn’t bashed the nashville establishment in a while, and primarily only did so briefly in 1 – 2 interviews and the Merle-related Facebook post. As far as his singing goes, he hasn’t really changed his vocal delivery, but I get that you would rather hear his country singing over a more standard classic country backdrop. And I don’t think you are with Honky….in the past he has said things like Sturgill flat out “can’t sing”.
November 2, 2017 @ 10:32 pm
Sturgill doesn’t owe anyone anything.
November 3, 2017 @ 5:22 am
All the two headed roosters on his website, he is doing a country record. This is just to revamp image of all His feeds. He did the same thing with asgte.
November 3, 2017 @ 10:10 am
I’ve always looked for Sturgill(with secret weapon Miles Miller) to do a straight up early 70’s Roy Lee Centers era Stanley style bluegrass album. Maybe that’s wishful thinking…and man, I’d love to play Jack Cooke style bass on that one.
November 3, 2017 @ 10:40 am
Sturgill doing his take on a grass album would be unreal. Given the importance that music within his family, I’ve always been hopeful that he’d do it. I’d be more interested in that than a rock record.
November 3, 2017 @ 1:09 pm
you’re not that far off base. Miles would like to form a 4 piece bgrass band and play mostly Ralph Stanley/Keith Whitley tunes when he’s not on tour with Sturgill. I’d go on tour if he ever pulls it together.
November 5, 2017 @ 7:54 pm
Maybe he was watching the video of the Kristofferson tribute from 3/2016 (Life and Music of Kris Kristofferson @ Bridgestone Arena)? For my Mom’s birthday in 2016, I got tickets for both of us and the travel and accommodations to/from Nashville. CMT started airing it at the end of October. I forget the exact date, and I just deleted it from the DVR when the DVD arrived. I ordered the DVD…mine arrived after the CMT airing, but my name isn’t Sturgill Simpson. Blackbird also had been putting some of the songs online…not sure if “The Pilgrim” was one of them. It was in the show as a duet between Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris, and made both the DVD and shorter CMT airing.
November 5, 2017 @ 7:54 pm
sorry – “Life and Songs..”