www.whiskeyriff.com
“Head High & F ‘Em All” – Johnny Blue Skies Sends Fans Into A Frenzy With Cryptic Post
The second post from the Johnny Blue Skies Instagram account.
Back in September, Johnny Blue Skies, AKA Sturgill Simpson, created a new Instagram page. This is the first official account that Sturgill Simpson has made since wiping the majority of his social media accounts. Of course, some followers of the “Living the Dream” artist might be familiar with @wherethef**kissturgillsimpson, a great account that frequently shares news and clips from the artist.
After fans noticed the verified page, it didn’t take long for a post to appear. Without fail, it was a cryptic message. The imagery of the post follows a lot of the previous Johnny Blue Skies artwork and features two skeletons on horseback jostling toward each other. One skeleton depicts a devil, and the other represents an angel of sorts, as it lacks horns and is pure white.
Above the image are the simple words:
“Hold Yer Horses.”
View this post on Instagram
Shortly after posting the cryptic image, which many assumed was related to an announcement of sorts, Sturgill confirmed during the second night of Red Rocks that they had just wrapped up recording a record.
“F*** it, I’ll tell you. Just so you guys know, we’re already gearing up… You ain’t ready, but we’re going to give it to you anyway. We just wrapped up a nice little… a new record… in the can.
And for all the record labels out there acting like record labels that want to f*** around, F*** AROUND. Find out. I just want to make America f*** again!”
LET’S GO.
@whiskeyriff Come on with it. // : bknorskn (IG) #whiskeyriff #sturgillsimpson #johnnyblueskies #redrocks ♬ original sound – Whiskey Riff
During his Red Rocks run, Simpson also unveiled a new band name for his alter ego. Sturgill Simpson is backed by one hell of a band, featuring talent like Laur Joamets on guitar, Kevin Black on bass, Miles Miller on drums, and Robbie Crowell on keyboards. Miles and Black have been running around with Simpson since the start of his career, and so their band is a true family unit.
To reflect that, Johnny Blue Skies will no longer be a solo act name, and they will be known as Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds moving forward.
While there has not yet been a formal announcement about the record that Simpson/Blue Skies mentioned at Red Rocks, it appears that JBS & The Dark Clouds might be gearing up to share something with fans, as another cryptic image appeared on his Instagram page moments ago.
And given that the Johnny Blue Skies account is not very active on Instagram, every post carries some weight as to what it could mean. No captions. No ability to comment. Just a simple black and white image of a metal lighter with the inscription:
“JBS
Head high and f*** ’em all.”
View this post on Instagram
While we aren’t quite sure what Simpson and the crew are teasing with this post, it’s evident that some announcement is on the way. If a new Johnny Blue Skies & The Dark Clouds record were announced (or even better, surprise dropped) before the end of the year, that would be one helluva way to close out 2025.
Give the people what they want, Johnny Blue Skies. Give us some new music.
Who Is Johnny Blue Skies?
The voice behind Johnny Blue Skies is one that country fans are all too familiar with- Sturgill Simpson. The Grammy winner is undoubtedly one of the best – and most influential – artists of the last decade. His albums, like High Top Mountain and Metamodern Sounds in Country Music, ushered in a new era in “Americana music.”
(The use of quotes is because we don’t feel that subgenre is entirely accurate… but hey, it’s got to be somewhat politically correct here, I guess.)
Sturgill has long promised that he would release only five albums, and he reaffirmed that promise with the release of #5, The Ballad of Dood & Juanita. But he did not say that he wouldn’t continue making music under a new name. Lo and behold, Johnny Blue Skies.
After unveiling his new identity, Simpson sat down with GQ and first revealed the shallow reason he went with Johnny Blue Skies:
“When I was about 21 years old, there used to be this bar in Lexington, Kentucky with this bartender named Dave who was like Silent Bob and Charles Bukowski, literally in the long trench coat, and he could do way more Zippo tricks than anybody should know.
When I started performing and getting my confidence at open mics and stuff, he’d come to this other bar and see me because it was his night off. And he started every time I’d walk into his bar, he’d say, ‘Johnny Blue Skies.’ So I just started using it.”
It’s a shallow yet profound answer to the question. However, the reason why he went all in on Johnny Blue Skies is the deeper – and my preferred – story. Simpson elaborated that as his celebrity grew more and more over the years, he associated with the name Sturgill less and less:
“I’d be at an airport or a restaurant, and I’d hear somebody say my name and I’d turn around and realize I had no idea who the person is. All of a sudden I’d hear that name and it was like it didn’t belong to me. It was just a commodity or a brand. Sturgill served his purpose, but he’s dead, he’s gone, and I’m definitely not that guy anymore. That’s why I put that skeleton face on that (reissued) cover of Metamodern. I just can’t even relate.”
I mean, it’s a simple answer that is both shallow and incredibly complex in the same breath.
Though that explanation explains the “how” of Johnny Blue Skies, it still doesn’t pull back the curtain on the “who”. Simpson made sure to address that in the interview as well, and said that Johnny Blue Skies is (or complexly) whoever you wish him or imagine him to be:
“He’s anybody you want him to be, man. He’s a mythological hero, come to usher us into this new era of love and light.”
Fire up a tune or two from his latest project, Passage Du Desir, while you’re here.
“If The Sun Never Rises”
“Scooter Blues”
The post “Head High & F ‘Em All” – Johnny Blue Skies Sends Fans Into A Frenzy With Cryptic Post first appeared on Whiskey Riff.
New Posts (Home)
ChatBox
Popular Posts 
Game Zone
Top PodCasts
