He had to change his name because Sturgil said he was quitting after 3 albums. This reminds me of the anime album which I really enjoyed on mushrooms. All that said, he is a master of changing genres and his live performances blow his studio albums away.
He said he would only release 5 albums of original songs that the albums would follows the journey of the soul.
"Yes. I’m only making five albums. And they all do serve a cohesive narrative of a life journey of a human soul from a traditional Western perspective. So
High Top Mountain was a seminal album or a past life, you can’t go home.
Metamodern (Sounds in Country Music) was ethereal, literally like the soul’s journey through space.
A Sailor’s Guide (To Earth) represents birth, and life lessons learning them. The next one is going to be about life and sin. We’re literally going to go to hell. And the fifth one will be returning to the light. Absolution."
I'm not sure The Ballad of Dood and Juanita fits with returning to the light but hey it still slaps.
I dig the new album and respect his talent to go from bluegrass, rock then funk. He uses Johnny Blue Skies and the Dark Clouds because he got his original band back together and wanted the music to be more about the collective group rather than him and I feel like there are some contractual stuff from his days with Atlantic.
His concerts are on another level, no opener just three hours awesomeness. I'm anxiously waiting for his next tour announcement.