While millions watched some of country music's biggest stars take the stage at the 2017 CMA Awards last night, Sturgill Simpson opted to take his guitar and Grammy Award to the streets.
The beloved alt-country artist busked outside of the Bridgestone Arena and streamed the whole thing live on Facebook. Simpson said he traveled out to the venue to raise money for the ACLU, but he also used the platform to share some strong opinions on everything from the state of country music to American politics. Here are 10 interesting statements he shared during his hour-long busk session on Broadway.
"You've got a better chance of getting in there than I do, I'll tell you that." - Simpson said to an onlooker about not being invited to the CMA Awards. Simpson is an outspoken critic of the Nashville country music establishment.
"[It's] simultaneously the best and worst thing that happened to the human race." - Simpson on the power of social media.
"I'll play that when I win Album of the Year at the next Grammy Awards." - Simpson said of Merle Haggard's timely hit, "Are The Good Times Really Over?"
"I'll never make a record watered down enough to go mainstream." - Simpson on staying true to his roots.
"I don't take requests, but I take questions about anything you want to talk about because facism sucks." - Simpson's carboard busking sign, placed next to his Grammy Award in his guitar case.
"I kind of feel like my world is done in that realm. Some day I'll wake up and feel like making a hard country record again, but that won't be tomorrow. That's just me being honest." - Simpson on creating another country music project.
"I'm only making five albums. And they all do serve a cohesive narrative of the journey of a human soul from a traditional western perspective." - Simpson on his plans for future releases.
"Ideally, I think it'd be really cool if people like Jason, Chris and Margo and a bunch of other people just went on the road together forever. I think that's what the fans want." - Simpson on creating a modern-day version of The Highwaymen.
"He's a fascist f—king pig, and I can say that at this point because anyone who supports him at this point is an ignorant f—king bigot." - Simpson on Donald Trump.
"Nobody needs a machine gun, coming from a guy who owns a few guns. Gay people should have the right to be happy and live their life any way they want to get married to anyone they want to without fear of getting dragged down the road behind a pickup truck. Black people are probably getting shot in the streets and being enslaved by the industrial prison complex and hegemony and fascism is alive and well in Nashville, Tennessee. Thank you very much." - Simpson says in a mock CMA acceptance speech.
