Sturgill Simpson On Comparisons To Waylon Jennings: “I Never Listened Much To Waylon Until I Met His Son”

Sturgill Simpson has long been compared to Waylon Jennings . From the very first moment Sturgill got his foot in the door with country music, many fans and critics have decided to slap the label of "he sounds like Waylon" on his records. Though they might share some similarities vocally, Simpson cleared the air in a recent interview with Qobuz , saying that the comparison is pretty much coincidental. Though he did give plenty of praise to Waylon, and described why his first record - High Top Mountain - leads many to think he was doing somewhat of a Jennings impersonation, Sturgill suggests he was just channeling vocals that ended up sounding similar: "Honestly, I never listened much to Waylon until I met his son. And we have a similar baritone. People think I was in tune... I wasn't. If I sing bluegrass, my voice sounds different because you're pushing through the diaphragm in a different way. Country is sort of about annunciations. The first record I made, I sounded like Waylon because I think the producer was trying to make me sound like Waylon. So a lot of the songs were put in keys where my voice would sit in that register as much as possible. And I feel like I've been running from that record ever since." Clearly Simpson, or should I say Johnny Blue Skies, has always wanted to dodge the comparisons. That being said, sounding like Waylon Jennings isn't a bad thing. Sturgill mentioned that he started listening to Waylon more after he met his son and fellow country artist, Shooter Jennings, and Waylon's son once provided a quote to showcase his approval of Simpson's sound: "Sturgill isn't imitating at all, and he sounds like my favorite era of my dad, the Seventies, when he would sing quieter and more conversational. That's what struck me about Sturgill from day one. And still does." I don't know if a country artist can get a better compliment. And even though Simpson says he's been "running from his first album ever since," he has a great, deep respect for all of the country artists that laid out the outlaw sound before him. Sturgill greatly appreciates Waylon Jennings, among other notable, legendary country artists: "Waylon's great. But I've probably listened to Willie Nelson and Merle Haggard way more. The records those guys make, I think, were pretty groundbreaking in terms of production in sonics because they were trying to make rock n' roll records." You can hear more from Sturgill in the interview below: https://youtu.be/uwm5KqggwZY?si=ToM47F6W0h9eT9V4&t=724