Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic Singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson has always done things his way, and his iconoclasm will be in full force in July when he releases an album under the nom de plume “Johnny Blue Skies” — which he’s indicating will be the name that all his future albums will come out under.
But for the purposes of touring, he will remain Sturgill Simpson. Whether splitting that difference is by preference, or because major venue operators are unlikely to book shows for a major artist under a pseudonym, is unknown.
But he will be hitting the road under the name Sturgill Simpson this fall, with 28 show over the course of two and a half months of shows in arenas, theaters and amphitheaters, starting with a date at L.A.’s Greek Theatre on Sept.
14. Simpson’s first album under the name is Johnny Blue Skies is the eight-track “Passage du Desir,” due out July 12 on his own independent label, High Top Mountain Records.
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