By Max Stewart

On Friday night Sturgill Simpson will perform a free livestream at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN as a token of appreciation for the donations that have been made by his fans over the past few weeks. The crowdless performance will stream live this Friday, 6/5, at 8:00 p.m. ET.

As Simpson stated in the announcement on Instagram: “I would very much like to offer immense thanks to all my fans for contributing to the DDSS quarantine charity drive. With your unbelievable generosity we raised over $250,000 for MusiCares COVID-19 Relief, Equity Alliance Nashville Tornado Relief, and the Special Forces Foundation. As a show of my appreciation for your efforts, I will be performing a one hour live stream concert as promised.”

Simpson also announced earlier this week that he is in the studio, presumably to record a bluegrass album.  “Y’all raised a Scrooge McDuck pile of money to help a lot people in need and I promised you a record this year. So I’m taking a detour from the five album plan to cut my entire back catalog of songs for you guys the way they were written and meant to be played… ruff, rugged, n’ raw. More good news coming soon. In the meantime lets all try to live above hell.”

Simpson ended the Instagram message with: “Get your Zyrtec ready, cuz we cuttin’ that grass.”

Judging by the cast of characters that Simpson announced will play with him on Friday, it looks like we may get a taste of some of that bluegrass early: Stuart Duncan (fiddle), Mike Bub (bass), Sierra Hull (mandolin), Scott Vestal (banjo), Mark Howard (guitar), and “the best snare and brushes you ever heard” (and longtime Simpson drummer), Miles Miller.

As Simpson notes, “We will also be selling an exclusive show poster and a brand new “Thirsty Sturg” t-shirt at http://www.sturgillsimpson.com in efforts to raise further funds during the stream.”

The YouTube link on Nugs.net is below. Check out the show on Friday night at 8:00 PM ET and be sure to continue to contribute to all of the worthy causes on Simpson’s website during the stream!