Review | It’s Nothing but Blue Skies for Sturgill Simpson

In his long-awaited return to music, Sturgill Simpson — or Johnny Blue Skies, depending on who you ask and when — brought a mesmerizing sense of calm to the Santa Barbara Bowl. Maybe it was the 30-plus-song set list, or maybe it was the crowd, but the evening brought lots of head-swaying and soft smiles as fans were offered a healthy mix of covers and original songs.

Two things struck me as unusual about the concert. For starters, Simpson stepped onto the stage and started singing at 7 p.m. on the dot — a timeliness almost unheard of in the ubiquitously tardy entertainment business. On top of that, hardly any cell phones were held awkwardly above the audience’s heads to catch pictures and videos of the performance — a pleasant surprise compared to the average sea of screens fighting for that perfectly postable shot.

Besides that, the night offered a whole lot of blue for Mr. Blue Skies. His new album, Passage du Desir, has a novel bluegrass-esque sound compared to his previous escapades, and begs the question of whether this new persona will reveal another layer in his musical repertoire. Even the stage lighting throughout the show — covering all hues of blue — seemed to suggest that Sturgill’s new stage name, Johnny Blue Skies, is here to stay.

The evening of September 15 was somewhat metaphorical of this transition, as Blue Skies did not get into any of the music on his newest album until about halfway through the set. After a surprise reggae transition from “A Good Look” into “Just Let Go,” he eased into his newer music — which lists both Sturgill Simpson and Johnny Blue Skies as artists — with “Right Kind of Dream” and “One for the Road” from Passage du Desir.

The singer himself poked fun at the cliché and somewhat comical nature of changing his name in the middle of his career, telling the audience, “I don’t know what my fucking name is anymore,” with a chuckle after ripping into his strings for a lengthy guitar solo.

And rip he did. The most captivating part of the concert was listening to the band riff off one another to craft extended, complex instrumental solos. Keyboard player Robbie Crowell swiveled back and forth between two sets of keys to get the intensity just right, while drummer Miles Miller set the rock tone. Blue Skies threw a little fancy footwork in the mix, grooving his feet across the carpets to the sound of his strings.

Half the time, I forgot I was there to hear Blue Skies’ gorgeously raspy voice. But once I heard him covering “Purple Rain” by Prince, I remembered why his vocal acoustics are hard to forget. Other crowd-pleasing covers that got people hootin’ and hollerin’ were “Long White Line” by Moore & Napier, “L.A. Woman” by The Doors, and “Midnight Rider” by The Allman Brothers Band.

Blue Skies ended his set with the seven-and-a-half minute tune “Jupiter’s Faerie,” from his new album and 2016 hit “Call to Arms,” leaving the Santa Barbara crowd with a sense of peaceful satisfaction and a new name to admire.