Sturgill Simpson Dishes On the Evolution of Johnny Blue Skies

With the arrival of Passage Du Desir earlier this month, Johnny Blue Skies also made his entrance, showing Sturgill Simpson the door and ushering in a new musical era for the reclusive singer-songwriter.

Since then, you've probably wondered about the reason behind this name change and artistic upheaval, questioning his motives and even pondering why "Johnny Blue Skies." While we, at Holler, took a swing at speculating, the artist revealed his reasoning in a recent interview.

Sitting down with digital music service Qobuz, Skies (née Simpson) dished it all when asked about the story behind his new moniker.

In the interview, he explains that when he first moved to Nashville, he had a vision, a "distinctly carved out five record arc," he describes, that would become his debut High Top Mountain (2013), Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014), A Sailor’s Guide to Earth (2016), Sound & Fury (2019) and The Ballad of Dood and Juanita (2021).

Once he had fulfilled that vision, he explains how he wanted his name back. "I felt like my identity had just become a brand," he shares. "I'd be at airports or something, you hear somebody say your name, you turn around and realize you never met this person. It'd be a pleasant encounter, but all the same, I just, I don't know..."

He likened the name change to Eric Clapton's Derek and the Dominos project, a short-lived endeavor for the rock icon but one that allowed him to release a uniquely vulnerable collection of ballads.

"I don't know if he would have done it with his name on it," the artist theorized of Clapton. Perhaps it was the same with Passage Du Desir, an album he wouldn't have been able to create as Simpson.

The name itself, the fair-weather distinction of Johnny Blue Skies, has followed the artist for decades. He describes: "The name came from, when I was in my early twenties, I'd gotten out of the Navy and moved back to this town in Kentucky. There was a bartender, this guy Dave, who wore a black trench coat and just stood outside flipping a Zippo [lighter] all the time. When I'd walk in everyday, he would be like 'Johnny Blue Skies'. To this day, I don't know why."

The moniker is nothing new, having appeared in a number of his past projects. The anime accompaniment to Sound & Fury was released under Johnny Blue Skies Productions, and there was a nod to the name hidden inside the A Sailor’s Guide to Earth record packaging.

"When I needed a name," he says simply, "that just seemed like a pretty obvious choice."

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