Sturgill Simpson, Tyler Childers, & Wheeler Walker Jr. Collaborate at Hinterland
Warning: Language
Three songwriters from Kentucky know for stirring the country music pot all came together collectively this Saturday (8-4) at the Hinterland Music Festival at the Avenue of the Saints Amphitheater in Saint Charlies, Iowa. Part of a two-day festival that also featured country and roots heavyweights Margo Price and Blackberry Smoke, one the fest’s most most memorable moments came during the set of Tyler Childers in the early afternoon when at one point both Sturgill Simpson and Wheeler Walker Jr., joined Tyler on stage. The trio performed the non family-friendly Wheeler Walker Jr. song “Sit On My Face” to rousing applause. Sturgill was sitting in with Tyler’s band on guitar during the set, and was headlining the festival.
Sturgill Simpson produced Tyler Childer’s well-received debut album Purgatory and helped put him on the map, and also helped hook up Wheeler Walker Jr. with producer Dave Cobb and distributor Thirty Tigers to release his incendiary and off-color music. Incidentally, Walker Jr. regularly asserts that Sturgill Simpson is a CIA agent. The three men are considered a big part of the country music insurgency going on in Kentucky.
Wheeler Walker Jr., whose set was performed on the festival’s camping stage, took to Twitter late Saturday complain in his customary salty language about the fest. “Fuck [Hinterland’s] lack of security. I’m gonna sue the living fuck out of them. I’ve got a huge fucking Hollywood lawyer. I will own that festival in a week. I promise you that. Seven days from now that dump will be called WheelerFest.”
Country revivalist Joshua Hedley was also scheduled to play Hinterland after playing Pickathon in Portland, OR earlier this weekend. But a delayed flight kept him from attending.
August 5, 2018 @ 11:40 am
Kool video Trig!
August 5, 2018 @ 12:51 pm
I was there. It was awesome.
August 5, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
Me too Sturgill was melting faces!!!
August 6, 2018 @ 12:49 pm
That’s my video!!! Fucking awesome!!!
August 6, 2018 @ 1:43 pm
Thanks for the video James!
August 5, 2018 @ 12:56 pm
Sturgills set was fucking amazing. He said he wasn’t going to play any of his songs the way he recorded them and he delivered. The guy is a force of nature in the guitar.
August 5, 2018 @ 2:29 pm
Funny to see this comment as my group, and tons of other people left during his set. I’ve now seen Sturgill at least 10 times in 5 states, but won’t be buying another ticket to his shows unless he releases a new record that is safely on the country side of the radar. The guy is incredible on the guitar, but his show is more like a Phish concert with 5 songs covering 80 minutes. I really miss the 2011-2014 Sturgill shows with the 4 or 5 piece band, where I could sing the songs that made me fall in love with his music at the top of my lungs.
August 5, 2018 @ 3:31 pm
You nailed it. I was one of those leaving about 30 mins in. Obviously, he can do what he wants with his songs, but that doesn’t mean we have to like them. If this is what Sturgill is now, I’m not interested.
August 5, 2018 @ 3:34 pm
I’m in the same boat as you but regardless of what I’d rather see him do or write I still can’t help but appreciate the level of musicianship. Also I think a lot of people left a little early to beat the rush, myself included
August 5, 2018 @ 4:41 pm
Yep, absolutely an incredible musician. But I much preferred it when he used to “stretch out” per say on 1-2 songs like Listening to the Rain, versus the entire set. Interesting that he talked about his new record coming out this year, and then asked us what everyone was clapping for as we don’t know what it will be like and we might hate it.
The audience has changed at his shows though and I’m likely the minority. I usually ask a lot of people how/when they found out about Sturgill and the overwhelming majority at current shows didn’t find him until ASGTE was released.
August 5, 2018 @ 10:20 pm
That’s the SNL (and NPR) bump in action, haha!
HTM and Metamodern are like talking about Steeldrivers and Reckless at a Stapleton concert.
August 6, 2018 @ 5:24 am
The more I hear from Simpson, the less I like him.
August 5, 2018 @ 10:55 pm
You do realize the guy is basically on vacation right now, has said as much, and is doing something a little more laid back and free spirited by doing the jam band thing and only doing festivals this year. He put out and toured behind 3 badass albums in a 4 year period, and deserves to do whatever the heck he wants for a bit. Also, everyone who’s paying attention knows that his festival shows are taking a different format than faithfully reproducing his studio work, which he has already toured behind and done extensively. I think it’s cool that he’s doing what he’s doing, vs. just taking a year off altogether, which is what most people in his position would be doing.
August 6, 2018 @ 8:22 am
Yeah, trust me I get it, I was at his Red Rocks show last year where it was the same thing (at least he threw us old fans a bone, with a 5 song solo run with just him and his Martin that show). But just as he gets to do whatever he wants to do, I do as well. And I’m going to choose to spend my cash supporting artists that are still playing music that I’m interested in like Tyler Childers, Cody Jinks, Whitey Morgan, Arlo McKinley, Justin Wells, Turnpike, Jason Eady etc….
August 6, 2018 @ 5:50 am
I think he is just evolving as an artist. He was talking about how they were staying in inspired by playing the old song in different ways. If there is one thing we know about Sturgill is, he is going to do whatever he wants. He doesn’t care what anybody thinks. That along with his music is why he is my favorite artist. The energy he was sending out Saturday night was insane. I felt like he had to step it up even more since his organ player was sick. They don’t call him the King Turd for no reason.
August 6, 2018 @ 7:20 am
Man, I was front row the entire day and when Sturgill came around, hung around for about 30 minutes. I’ve seen him twice previously and he’s fun to see but it’s just not the same since that first time when he had the brass section.
..but when I tried leaving from the front row, I can’t lie, I had damn near had a panic attack. I was fucked up and exhausted and seeing how many people I had to push through to get beyond the crowd crushed my soul. I literally didn’t ever think I was going to get out of that crowd. Overall though, fantastic festival. Still really disappointed Hedley didn’t make it but I’ll be damned if it wasn’t still a hell of a good day. Nathaniel Rateliff really showed up in a big way.
August 7, 2018 @ 12:04 am
I honestly hope he gets out of this jam band phase he’s in
August 5, 2018 @ 1:33 pm
I don’t know if it was an intentional one, but it was an excellent troll of the serious hipster types that were in the crowd.
August 5, 2018 @ 2:34 pm
I loved Sturgill’s comment “Get your corn dog bitches” to all the people laying down in the back.
August 5, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
Not sure how long you read comments on older posts, so I’m asking here; I watched Flatland perform at JBGB this past Thursday, opening for William Clark Green. They had a rotund feller playing fiddle for them. Any word on if he’s just filling in or the new replacement?
August 5, 2018 @ 8:08 pm
If and when all the pieces fall into place with the Flatland fiddle situation and if an article is warranted, I’ll post an update.
August 5, 2018 @ 3:01 pm
Phenomenal lineup this year at Hinterland. The Tyler, Sturgill, Wheeler collaboration was hilarious. Sturgill was the highlight of the evening though. I knew he was a great guitarist but he absolutely killed it last night. Loved every minute of it!
August 5, 2018 @ 3:28 pm
Sturgill is such a damn good musician. Wheeler’s act has grown old.
August 5, 2018 @ 4:31 pm
It’s been old from the start. It’s just misogyny disguised as childish humor.
August 5, 2018 @ 4:46 pm
Can’t argue that.
August 5, 2018 @ 6:07 pm
Don’t getchya panties in a bunch hoss…
August 5, 2018 @ 6:29 pm
That’s exactly the response I’d expect from someone who listens to Wheeler Walker.
August 5, 2018 @ 10:18 pm
REEEEEEE
August 6, 2018 @ 3:51 am
lol
August 5, 2018 @ 8:45 pm
I disagree that his act is misogyny disguised as humor. Ben Hoffman is a liberal comedian who makes jokes about sex and body parts through country music. His lyrical content has never been anti-woman nor has he ever released a song where he was commiting a sexual act against a woman’s will or was being abusive to women in any way.
Furthermore, there are many occasions he is the butt of the joke of the song. If you want to say his frat boy humor has grown old that’s your opinion, but I disagree he is misogynistic in any way.
August 6, 2018 @ 11:43 am
Exactly. It’s making fun of a lot of the misogyny in pop country. Y’all are seriously missing the point.
August 6, 2018 @ 12:50 pm
The majority of his fans take his music at face value. His audience is a bunch of dude bros who think telling women to get back into the kitchen or suck their dick is high class humor. He might have started out trying to be ironic but he has become that which he started off mocking.
August 6, 2018 @ 5:28 pm
So from his second album, which lyrics are mysoginistic? I virtually know the album by heart and can’t think of a single lyric that expresses any hate or disdain for women. Sex jokes? Yes. Body part jokes? Yes. Gay jokes? Yes. If you want to argue homophobia you may have an argument although I don’t think Wheeler/Ben is homophobic. Where’s the misogyny?
I
August 5, 2018 @ 10:22 pm
*with great singing and incredible musicianship
August 5, 2018 @ 11:03 pm
I don’t know about the singing, but agree with the musicianship, but that just doesn’t matter much to me when the lyrics are as idiotic as they are.
August 5, 2018 @ 7:04 pm
Wheeler just stole the Kenny Powers shtick and ran with it. Kenny powers was better.
August 6, 2018 @ 5:38 am
You can also check out Scuzz Twittley for another “influence”. Scuzz is actually funny.
August 5, 2018 @ 3:36 pm
Tyler’s sound and entire set was a little lackluster, there I said it.
August 6, 2018 @ 6:14 pm
Curious, were you a disappointed fan? Or has he not been your thing?
August 7, 2018 @ 4:00 am
Disappointed fan. This was my third time seeing him this year. His sound check was rushed and they had feedback issues on certain frequencies the whole timein. The set list was definitely done with a more rocking feel which I’m sure some people liked but the lead guitar and bass were cranked and Tyler’s guitar was completely lost in the mix.
August 7, 2018 @ 5:46 am
Agreed. I thought maybe it was just me that was hearing it, but the sound was really off. It all felt kind of rushed.
August 5, 2018 @ 4:38 pm
Wheeler’s a fucking cartoon. How is he not finished yet?
August 5, 2018 @ 4:49 pm
Pretty badass to bust out a song like that at a festival. I listen to Wheeler Walker Jr weekly, some catchy hilarious stuff.
August 5, 2018 @ 7:00 pm
Agree on Sturgill. I don’t expect artists to stand still, but why just go in your face, you know those songs you love? You’re not going to hear them.
I didn’t like it when Dylan did/does it. Doesn’t work any better for Sturgill. If he wants to front a jam band, fine. I’m out.
And I never got Wheeler at all. He says “fuck” a lot so it’s funny? Okie dokie.
August 5, 2018 @ 11:00 pm
Context is key here on Sturgill. He’s on vacation, playing festivals for the year. What more do you want from the guy?…..a new album literally every year?
August 6, 2018 @ 9:21 am
Where did I say I wanted anything? He should follow his muse wherever the fuck that takes him. If it’s a direction different than what I like, so be it. I’ve never been a fan of jam bands, but if that’s what he wants to do he should have at it. The more I read, the more I’m glad we passed on the festival near us, but if he’s having fun he’s earned it.
Don’t get Wheeler Walker Jr., either, but if some do, more power to him.
August 5, 2018 @ 7:14 pm
Two out of three ain’t bad.
The third one being Wheeler Walker of course.
August 5, 2018 @ 7:27 pm
Sturgill is a Psy Op…he was in naval intelligence and those boys deal with some loco stuff! It would at least explain some of his actions maybe. The Feds want to divide and conquer! Wasn’t Jerry Garcia rumored to be undercover too? The question is which wing of the intelligence world is Sturgill working for? You can’t automatically assume it’s the liberal wing cuz he could be an infiltrator! It’s maddening! Andale con las quejas
August 5, 2018 @ 7:36 pm
Sturgill right up there with hank III and shooter on the list of guys that just frustrate me to death. Deep down so capable of making music that I love but they are just too damn weird not to get sidetracked. Sturgill and hank especially bc they are so capable. I’ll just keep ck, jinks, and then troubadors on shuffle.
August 6, 2018 @ 8:58 am
This is a good statement. Just too fucking weird at times to stay focused. But when they hit what I think is a home run, I’ll play and talk about those records as well.
August 5, 2018 @ 11:06 pm
I really don’t understand the complaints with Sturgill’s latest guitar hero moments. I saw him as part of the Outlaw Fest in Little Rock in late June and sure it wasn’t the album stuff, but it was still great.
August 6, 2018 @ 4:51 am
Because he’s evolving to a genre, jam band, that I’m not a big fan of. Like I said, I don’t expect artists to stand still, but if you move away from the music that brought me in in the first place, to something that I’m NOT a fan of, I’ll move on. Nobody is saying it’s bad, neither was the Grateful Dead or Widespread Panic. It’s just not my thing. He seems to be doing just fine without me and I still have High Top Mountain and Metamodern Sounds, so it’s all good.
August 6, 2018 @ 6:19 am
but if you move away from the music that brought me in in the first place, to something that I’m NOT a fan of, I’ll move on.
I’m still on board with Sturgill, but I totally get that sentiment.
August 6, 2018 @ 8:05 am
Maybe if Sturg smoked a doobie now and again he could REALLY jam!????
August 6, 2018 @ 8:23 am
I’d be totally fine if Sturgill just became Tyler’s lead guitar player.
August 6, 2018 @ 11:33 am
Funny you say that. We saw Stapleton several times when he first blew up and I always felt like it was great but he needed a kickass lead guitarist. Then he and Sturgill played together and kicked ass and I said, “yessss!!!!”
Never work long-term though. Sturgill got his own thing.
August 6, 2018 @ 11:49 am
Sturgill absolutely killed it during the Outlaw Festival. People were on their feet. He is never going to be straight country and that’s a good thing. He’s one of those few people who comes
Along every thirty years and changes the game. If he did the same thing all the time, people would complain that he was a one trick pony. He’s better off doing what he’s doing and people can come aboard or not.
August 6, 2018 @ 2:31 pm
Except for the time when he was straight country. Example: High Top Mountain
August 6, 2018 @ 2:33 pm
The album was. He wasn’t. Read any interview with him and he’ll confirm that one.
August 6, 2018 @ 3:16 pm
Nope, he’s on record saying the opposite. That any record he makes will be country, since he is a country singer. Pretty sure Trigger covered those words right here on SCM.
August 6, 2018 @ 4:14 pm
Yeah, but his influences have always been more than straight country and always will be. That is what he was saying. Every record he has made has been informed by other genres, including Metamodern. You may not
like the direction he’s going in but he’s always been much more eclectic in his approach, this is not a new thing at all.
August 6, 2018 @ 1:36 pm
Well, looks like I’m going to be the one to piss on the fire. I don’t hear Sturgill’s greatness in the video above. In fact, Sturgill spends a lot of time just tuning his guitar, he plays (“steps over”) Tyler’s vocal, and when he does play, his fills aren’t all that interesting or well-timed. I’ve heard many, many better guitar performances than this. Now before you get your panties in a bunch, I realize this is just a clip of a much longer set, and yes, I’ve heard Sturgill tear it up on guitar. But just because some dude in sneakers turns up the wick on his amp and sprays burning guitar on something doesn’t mean it’s musical. It’s more of a statement, which is fine. But does anyone have footage of Sturgill playing better guitar than in the clip above?
August 6, 2018 @ 6:08 pm
Piss on the fire all you want. I agree. All I ever hear him do is sloppy Blues jamming. Every once in a while he throws in what I would consider a decent “Country” lick. I’m not that keen on his music anyway, but it is a shame he lost that lead guitarist Lil’ Joe. That guy could play.
August 6, 2018 @ 7:22 pm
Yep, that fella ripped it up. Interesting player. Never heard the full story of why he left.
August 6, 2018 @ 5:48 pm
I don’t think anyone could really argue that he tore it up on the guitar in that performance. It was more of just a fun novelty moment, and the spontaneity of the whole thing was evident.
August 6, 2018 @ 8:30 pm
Vulgarity is a refuge for those who have absolutely nothing left to say. I’m talking to you Wheeler Walker…
August 6, 2018 @ 8:42 pm
I hit your shoulder barely with a beer can. You instantly broke character demanded that I be removed from the show (you referred to me as a mother Fucker and that he should be removed). News flash a chick with an arm made you all but burst into tears on stage. You literally stopped the show for 5-7 minutes and cried on stage like a little bitch. In most actual roots/punk music scenes beer cans thrown at you are a term of endearment and the artist usually plays harder, but apparently you can handle real fans. You. are.weak.!
August 7, 2018 @ 8:31 pm
Well, hell! Couldn’t be any better.