Sturgill Simpson is back on Instagram. Well, kind of.
Earlier this week, a new, verified Instagram account emerged for Johnny Blue Skies, the nom de plume Simpson assumed for his 2024 comeback album Passage du Desir and accompanying world tour. Long before the days of Johnny Blue Skies, Simpson had an active—and at times, outlandish (RIP Dickdaddy)—social media presence, which he has since wiped from Facebook and Instagram. In that vacuum, fan-run account @wherethefuckissturgillsimpson has emerged to fill the void, posting news updates, live videos, and memes to over 200,000 followers.
Then early Wednesday morning, the nubile Johnny Blue Skies Instagram account made its first (and so far, only) post. The image featured familiar artwork from Simpson’s recent activities, a pair of skeletons riding skeleton horses crossing an arrow and pitchfork [Editor’s note: #metal]. Above that art was the simple message, “Hold Yer Horses”. No caption, no comments allowed.
To cut to the chase: we have no idea what “Hold Yer Horses” means. It could be a new album, a new tour, or perhaps Simpson telling us all “Hold Yer Horses” as we clamor for another album and tour. In May, the singer-songwriter wrapped his second consecutive headlining world tour, though he has continued playing scattered festival dates around the globe, including Spain’s Primavera Sound, Oregon’s Farewell Festival, an opening set for Dead & Company at San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park, and still has a set at Bourbon & Beyond and a two-night run at Red Rocks Amphitheatre later this month before he has officially cleared his calendar.
With two straight years of nonstop, three-hour ass-kicking concerts and a brilliantly beautiful album behind him, maybe he’s telling everyone, “Hold Yer Horses” and chill out while he catches his breath. However, given his prodigious schedule since returning from three years on the bench following a tour-ending vocal cord injury, that doesn’t really sound like Sturgill.
While in Asheville, NC, on the wind-down of his headlining tour back in May, Simpson gave a preview of possible things to come.
“We are, after tonight, three shows away from the end of a year-long tour,” Simpson told the crowd at the ExploreAsheville.com Arena. “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.”
While we’re not sure what Sturgill Simpson/Johnny Blue Skies has planned for the future, we do know that his keyboardist/saxophonist Robbie Crowell is going on tour as part of Todd Snider‘s new backing band in October and November. So whatever he’s got cooking will likely have to be planned around that, following the conclusion of Sturgill’s remaining tour dates.
With tour dates on the calendar, a new(ish) album that refuses to get old, and a newly activated Instagram page, it’s a good time to be a fan of Sturgill Simpson—or Johnny Blue Skies, or whatever he’s calling himself next.
Find a full list of Sturgill Simpson tour dates here, follow the new Instagram below, and watch him and his band do their thing live from this past spring, featuring a partial Rage Against the Machine “Bulls on Parade” jam.
Sturgill Simpson — “Best Clockmaker On Mars” > “Bulls On Parade” (Rage Against The Machine), “I Don’t Mind” — Birmingham, AL — 4/10/25
[Video: RedGuitar]
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