The Harvest Jazz and Blues Festival announced today that Grammy award-winning Americana and alt-country superstar Sturgill Simpson will headline the Moose Light Blues Tent on Friday, September 14.

Simpson will replace headliner Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats who, the festival announced last week, had to postpone their Harvest appearance until 2019 due to a death in their musical family.

Sturgill Simpson stormed into the musical mainstream in late 2016 when his latest effort, the self-produced ‘A Sailor’s Guide to Earth,” was nominated for the GRAMMY’s biggest honour, Album of the Year. Nominated alongside music industry titans Adele, Drake, Beyoncé and Justin Bieber, Simpson charmed legions of new and soon-to-be fans by producing a t-shirt with the phrase he said “millions of people” were wondering upon hearing of the nomination: ‘who the [expletive] is Sturgill Simpson?”. Adele picked up the big prize at the Awards Show but Simpson gained a massive new audience and as consolation a win for Country Album of the Year.

Simpson has stunned the music industry and flattened audiences with his genre-bending style, brilliant and soulful song-writing, and searing hot guitar licks. Too eclectic for rigid classification, Simpson’s three universally-acclaimed solo albums take listeners through a musical mosaic of outlaw country, Americana, roots, bluegrass, R&B and Motown soul. But playing live, the best way to describe Simpson is he just plain rocks as he continues to push his work beyond expectations and musical boundaries.

“Sturgill Simpson is a modern-day outlaw, an artist who defies convention and brings a gutsy bravado to the stage that is going to make for an unexpected and unbelievable show for the Harvest audience,” said Brent Staeben, Harvest Programming Director. “In searching for a replacement for Nathaniel Rateliff, we went looking for a performer who could deliver for our audiences and we’re confident Sturgill fills that need and fits perfectly into our already stellar line-up.”

“If you’re unfamiliar with Simpson, seek out his last album A Sailor’s Guide to Earth” says Staeben. Sailors is a concept album written following the birth of his first son and the songs are fashioned in the form of letters from a sailor who isn’t sure he’ll see his newborn child and wife again. Since becoming a father, Simpson is notoriously selective about which festivals he’ll come out to play but chose to make this trip to Fredericton after a strong plea from the Festival. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to experience a powerhouse live show.

Tickets to Sturgill Simpson / Refunds for Nathaniel Rateliff

Harvest Patrons who previously purchased a ticket to Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweats can use that ticket to see Sturgill Simpson with no additional action required.

Tickets to see Sturgill Simpson with opening act Southern Avenue will go on sale Saturday, August 25th at 9am on etixnow.com and at Harvest Central, 81 Regent Street in Fredericton.

If you wish to request a refund for your online or kiosk purchase of Nathaniel Rateliff tickets or Friday Night Passes, please e-mail info@etixnow.com with your order number. All refund requests must be submitted by Friday, August 24th at 5pm. Refund requests submitted after this deadline may not be honoured. Refunds cannot be made at Harvest Central.”

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For more information please contact:

Julien Bernstein,

Marketing Assistant, Harvest Jazz & Blues Festival

(e)julien@harvestjazzandblues.com

(p) 506 454 2583