Sturgill Simpson’s Former Band Sunday Valley Performing Live

Singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson came to the defense of the late great Outlaw Country legend Merle Haggard earlier this week. Simpson’s anger at the Academy Of Country Music’s decision to name an award after Haggard came out in a lengthy Facebook message aimed at what he perceives as “meat parade award show bullshit.” Simpson’s opinion on the state of country music comes after years of trying to find success in Nashville and beyond.

Though a trio of critically acclaimed albums has solidified Simpson’s solo career, the Lexington, Kentucky native has been performing for more than a decade, first getting his start as the member of a band. Prior to his branching out on his own, Simpson fronted the group Sunday Valley, trading his current acoustic guitar for an electric six-string alongside drummer Edgar Purdom III and bassist Gerald Evans.

“I think there’s a certain violence, or chaos, or nervous energy to our music – that maybe it’s country music for the world we live in today,” said Simpson when describing Sunday Valley back in 2011.

The country rock group formed in 2004 but went on hiatus for a period of time while Simpson worked for a railroad in Salt Lake City, Utah. The group later reformed and in 2011 released the album To The Wind And On To Heaven. Shortly after, Evans left the band and was replaced by Kevin Block who continued to play with Simpson’s band until leaving earlier this year. Eventually Sunday Valley broke up for good when in 2012 Sturgill decided to pursue a solo career. For Sunday Cinema, below is an electronic press-kit featuring the earlier Sunday Valley lineup, followed by a live performance featuring the updated lineup. The live performance showcasing Simpsons impressive guitar skills was part of Dacha Session, described by the video’s publisher LiveandBreathing like this:

Just a short drive outside of Knoxville there’s a single bedroom log cabin known amongst friends as “The Dacha.” It’s on this isolated 60-acre farm overlooking the French Broad River where these sessions were filmed, some in a barn that had just been cleared of rusted farming tools and others at a simple kitchen table.

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