“Hold Yer Horses” – Sturgill Simpson Posts Cryptic Image From New Instagram Account

HOLD YER HORSES. No literally.

Last night, Johnny Blue Skies, AKA Sturgill Simpson, created a new Instagram page.

Last night, a new Instagram page emerged for  Johnny Blue Skies. 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.

Fans were thrilled to see the account created under his pseudo identity, and instantly began wondering what this meant. Why did Simpson feel the need to return to social media? Is there an announcement of sorts in the works? Why did he choose to make an account under Johnny Blue Skies instead of Sturgill Simpson?

It didn’t take long for a post to appear after the account was created, and 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 does not have horns and is in a pure white color.

Above the image are the simple words:

“Hold Yer Horses.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Johnny Blue Skies (@johnnyblueskies)

BUT WHAT DOES IT MEAN?

Last year, Sturgill Simpson made his triumphant return under the name of Johnny Blue Skies, releasing his record  Passage Du Desir. Simpson has been on the road nonstop since the release of Passage Du Desir, which makes one wonder if this announcement could be tour-related. Or, given that we’ve passed a year since his last album’s release, this could mean that we are in for a new studio project?

Last May, Stu took the Why Not? Tour to the great state of North Carolina to perform at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena in Asheville. And with just a handful of dates left on the schedule, Stu confessed that it was probably about time to get back in the studio.

“We are, after tonight, 3 shows away from the end of a year long tour. It’s been the best time I’ve ever had on stage, the best music, the best band I’ve ever got to play with.

But after that, it’s safe to say we’ve done two complete laps around the United States and all over Europe, it’s probably time to get in the studio and make some new music… and then turn around and do it all over again:

So whatever Johnny Blue Skies is cooking up, I’m eagerly awaiting more information (or more cryptic posts).

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 only be releasing five albums, and 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 few tunes while you’re here.

“Scooter Blues”

“If The Sun Never Rises”

The post “Hold Yer Horses” – Sturgill Simpson Posts Cryptic Image From New Instagram Account first appeared on Whiskey Riff.