Sturgill Simpson, Eric Church Cover John Anderson on New Tribute Album
Sturgill Simpson, Sierra Ferrell, and Eric Church are among the all-star group of artists who wil interpret the music of country great John Anderson on the new album Something Borrowed, Something New: A Tribute to John Anderson. Produced by Dan Auerbach and Dave Ferguson, the project will be released Aug. 5 on Auerbach’s Easy Eye label.
Something Borrowed, Something New runs the gamut of A-list talent, from contemporary mainstream stars to country iconoclasts to bluegrass and Americana heroes alike. Luke Combs takes on the 1992 smash “Seminole Wind,” while Eric Church opts for the 1995 single “Mississippi Moon” and Simpson tries out “When It Comes to You.” Others look further back in Anderson’s catalog: Brothers Osborne sing the 1986 track “You Can’t Judge a Book (By the Cover),” Brent Cobb does 1982’s “Wild and Blue,” and Tyler Childers tackles the 1980 album cut “Shoot Low, Sheriff.” The late John Prine appears as well, singing “1959.”
The project’s lead offering is also one of Anderson’s early hits. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings put their spin on “I Just Came Home to Count the Memories,” a Number Seven hit and title track of Anderson’s 1981 album. Welch and Rawlings strip it down to emphasize their guitars and voices, while Auerbach and Ferguson sprinkle in some atmospheric touches that add to the unrelenting feeling of loss.
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Auerbach ensured a sense of continuity with the recordings, asking every artist to come to his Nashville studio and cut their parts.
“We weren’t trying to piddle around and make the normal tribute record,” he said in a statement. “It had to be the best singers with the best songs and the best arrangements, and they all had to come into the studio. This wasn’t like, ‘Mail me the song, and we’ll put it together.’ Everybody had to come here and do their thing.”
Anderson has remained active more than 40 years into his recording career. Most recently, he worked with Auerbach and Ferguson on 2020’s Years, a project that he tracked while dealing with some serious health issues including hearing loss.
“It was a great experience and, for me, a healing experience,” Anderson told IndieLand in 2020. “Working with Dan and working through the tracks on these songs and writing these songs originally was maybe one of my biggest accomplishments in my career after what I’d been through.”
Something Borrowed, Something New track list:
- “1959” performed by John Prine
- “Years” performed by Sierra Ferrell
- “Wild and Blue” performed by Brent Cobb
- “Low Dog Blues” performed by Nathaniel Rateliff
- “Mississippi Moon” performed by Eric Church
- “I Just Came Home to Count the Memories” performed by Gillian Welch & David Rawlings
- “Shoot Low Sheriff!” performed by Tyler Childers
- “Seminole Wind” performed by Luke Combs
- “When It Comes to You” performed by Sturgill Simpson
- “You Can’t Judge a Book (By The Cover)” performed by Brothers Osborne
- “Would You Catch a Falling Star” performed by Del McCoury feat. Sierra Hull
- “Straight Tequila Night” performed by Ashley McBryde
- “I’m Just an Old Chunk of Coal (But I’m Gonna Be a Diamond Some Day)” performed by Jamey Johnson
