A Sailor's Guide to Earth

A Sailor's Guide to Earth is the third studio album by American country music singer-songwriter Sturgill Simpson. It was announced on March 3, 2016, with the release of the single "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)". The album was released on April 15, 2016,^[1] and won Best Country Album at the 59th Grammy Awards; it was also nominated for Album of the Year.^[2]

A Sailor's Guide to Earth
Studio album by Sturgill Simpson
Released	April 15, 2016 (2016-04-15)
Studio	The Butcher Shoppe (Nashville) Atlantic (New York) CaVa (Glasgow)
Genre	Country soul alternative country outlaw country country rock
Length	38:54
Label	Atlantic
Producer	Sturgill Simpson
Sturgill Simpson chronology
Metamodern Sounds in Country Music (2014) A Sailor's Guide to Earth (2016) Sound & Fury (2019)
Singles from A Sailor's Guide to Earth
"Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" Released: March 3, 2016 "In Bloom" Released: March 24, 2016 "Keep It Between the Lines" Released: January 30, 2017

Background

Prior to the album's announcement, Simpson stated in an interview with GQ that "what's next is already finished... Quite honestly, I need about six months at home with my family."^[3] On March 3, 2016, Simpson released "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)" on YouTube and his website; the next day he released the nine-song track list of A Sailor's Guide to Earth.^[4] A week later, he published the music video for "Brace for Impact", which was directed by Matt Mahurin and contains the Grim Reaper, a hot rod coffin and sailboats.^[5] On March 24, 2016, Simpson released his cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom" along with its music video, also directed by Matt Mahurin. Simpson said, "I wanted to make a very beautiful and pure homage to Kurt [Cobain]."^[6] Streaming of the album became available on April 7, 2016, on NPR's official website.^[7]

The song "Oh Sarah" was previously recorded by Simpson's former band Sunday Valley and appeared on their only full-length album, To the Wind and On To Heaven, in 2011.

Reception

Professional ratings

Aggregate scores
Source	Rating
AnyDecentMusic?	8.3/10^[8]
Metacritic	86/100^[9]
Review scores
Source	Rating
AllMusic	^[10]
The Daily Telegraph	^[11]
Entertainment Weekly	A−^[12]
The Guardian	^[13]
The Independent	^[14]
Mojo	^[15]
Pitchfork	8.0/10^[16]
Rolling Stone	^[17]
Spin	7/10^[18]
Uncut	9/10^[19]

A Sailor's Guide to Earth received widespread critical acclaim upon its release. At Metacritic, which assigns a normalized rating out of 100 to reviews from music critics, the album has received an average score of 86, indicating "universal acclaim", based on 19 reviews.^[9]

The album debuted at No. 3 on the Billboard 200, and No. 1 on the Top Country Albums chart, selling 52,000 copies (55,000 units when tracks and streams are included) in its first week.^[20] The album sold a further 13,400 copies in the second week.^[21] The album has sold 217,900 copies in the US as of October 2017.^[22]

Following his Grammy win, Simpson saw a 346% increase in streaming on Spotify.^[23]

Accolades

Publication	Accolade	Year	Rank	Ref.
Paste	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	19	^[24]
Rough Trade	Albums of the Year	2016	91	^[25]
Stereogum	The 50 Best Albums of 2016	2016	26	^[26]

Track listing

All tracks are written by Sturgill Simpson except "In Bloom", which is written by Kurt Cobain

No.	Title	Length
1.	"Welcome to Earth (Pollywog)"	4:53
2.	"Breakers Roar"	3:33
3.	"Keep It Between the Lines"	4:01
4.	"Sea Stories"	3:17
5.	"In Bloom" (Nirvana cover)	4:01
6.	"Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"	5:49
7.	"All Around You"	3:36
8.	"Oh Sarah"	4:15
9.	"Call to Arms"	5:30
Total length:		38:54

Personnel

Musicians

• Sturgill Simpson – vocals (all tracks), acoustic guitar (tracks 1, 2, 4–9), 12-string guitar (1, 5), Moog synthesizer (1, 6), horn arrangement (1, 9), background vocals (4, 6)
• Miles Miller – drums (all tracks), background vocals (3, 4, 6)
• Robert Emmett – organ (all tracks); Moog synthesizer (1, 8), Wurlitzer (1, 3), background vocals (3, 6), keyboards (5)
• Dan Dugmore – steel guitar
• Jefferson Steinberg – string arrangement, horn arrangement
• Dave Roe – bass guitar (1–8)
• Laur Joamets – electric guitar (1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 9), slide guitar (1)
• Jefferson Crow – piano (1, 3–5, 7–9), Wurlitzer (6)
• Garo Yellin – first cello (1, 2, 5, 7, 8)
• Arthur Cook – second cello (1, 2, 5, 7, 8)
• Jonathan Dinklage – violin (1, 2, 5, 7, 8)
• Whitney LaGrange – violin (1, 2, 5, 7, 8)
• Neal Sugarman – tenor saxophone (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
• Dave Guy – trumpet, flugelhorn (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
• Ian Hendrickson-Smith – alto saxophone, baritone saxophone (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
• Clark Gayton – trombone (1, 3, 5, 7, 9)
• Dougie Wilkinson – bagpipes (9)
• Kevin Black – bass guitar (9)

Technical

• Sturgill Simpson – production
• David Ferguson – mixing, engineering, recording
• Gavin Lurssen – mastering
• Sean Sullivan – recording
• Geoff Allan – bagpipe engineering
• Ebonie Smith – engineering assistance

Artwork

• Greg "Gigen's Dad" Burke – art direction, design
• Kilian Eng – cover art, back cover art, ships wheel illustration
• Mark Stutzman – map illustration
• Matthew Meiners – skeletons

Charts

Weekly charts Chart (2016) Peak position Belgian Albums (Ultratop Flanders)^[27] 108 Canadian Albums (Billboard)^[28] 31 Dutch Albums (Album Top 100)^[29] 66 Irish Albums (IRMA)^[30] 39 Norwegian Albums (VG-lista)^[31] 34 UK Albums (OCC)^[32] 43 US Billboard 200^[33] 3 US Folk Albums (Billboard)^[34] 1 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[35] 1 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[36] 1

Year-end charts Chart (2016) Position US Folk Albums (Billboard)^[37] 5 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[38] 18 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[39] 21 Chart (2017) Position US Folk Albums (Billboard)^[40] 24 US Top Country Albums (Billboard)^[41] 75 US Top Rock Albums (Billboard)^[42] 88

References

1. Matthew Strauss. "Sturgill Simpson Announces New Album A Sailor's Guide to Earth, Shares "Brace for Impact (Live a Little)"". Pitchfork. Retrieved March 4, 2016.
2. . The Grammys. December 6, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2011. Retrieved December 8, 2016.
3. Welch, Will (January 7, 2016). "The GQ&A: Sturgill Simpson, Country Music's Psychedelic Warrior-Philosopher". GQ. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
4. Carolyn Menyes (March 4, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson Reveals 'A Sailor's Guide to Earth' Tracklist with Nirvana Cover & Tour Dates". Music Times. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
5. Andrew Leahey (March 10, 2016). "Watch Sturgill Simpson's Surreal 'Brace for Impact' Video". Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
6. James Grebey (March 24, 2016). "Listen to Sturgill Simpson's Country Cover of Nirvana's 'In Bloom'". Spin. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
7. Ann Powers (April 7, 2016). "First Listen: Sturgill Simpson, 'A Sailor's Guide To Earth'". npr.org. NPR. Retrieved April 8, 2016.
8. "A Sailor's Guide To Earth by Sturgill Simpson reviews". AnyDecentMusic?. Retrieved October 12, 2019.
9. "Reviews for A Sailor's Guide to Earth by Sturgill Simpson". Metacritic. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
10. Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "A Sailor's Guide to Earth – Sturgill Simpson". AllMusic. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
11. Chilton, Martin (May 20, 2016). "Best country music albums of 2016". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
12. Vain, Madison (April 14, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson's A Sailor's Guide to Earth: EW Review". Entertainment Weekly. from the original on April 17, 2016. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
13. Hann, Michael (April 14, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor's Guide to Earth review – hard-hitting country soul". The Guardian. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
14. Gill, Andy (April 13, 2016). "Album reviews – Lush, Graham Nash, Sturgill Simpson and Hauschka". The Independent. from the original on April 13, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
15. Chick, Stevie (April 11, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide To Earth". Mojo. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
16. Goble, Corban (April 19, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson: A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Pitchfork. Retrieved April 19, 2016.
17. Hermes, Will (April 14, 2016). "A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 14, 2016.
18. Larson, Jeremy D. (April 13, 2016). "Review: Sturgill Simpson Preps a Son of a Sailor on 'A Sailor's Guide to Earth'". Spin. Retrieved December 7, 2016.
19. Anderson, Jason (May 13, 2016). . Uncut. Archived from the original on May 14, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2018.
20. Caulfield, Keith (April 24, 2016). "Sturgill Simpson and Santana Debut in Top 10 on Billboard 200 Chart". Billboard. Retrieved April 25, 2016.
21. Bjorke, Matt (May 5, 2016). "Country Album Chart Report: May 5, 2016". Roughstock.
22. Bjorke, Matt (October 10, 2017). "Top 10 Country Albums Sales Chart: October 9, 2017". Roughstock.
23. McAlone, Nathan. "The Grammys' biggest winner was a 77-year-old Memphis legend, according to Spotify and Pandora". Business Insider. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
24. . Paste. November 30, 2016. Archived from the original on December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
25. . Rough Trade. November 14, 2016. Archived from the original on November 16, 2016. Retrieved November 15, 2016.
26. "The 50 Best Albums of 2016". Stereogum. December 1, 2016. Retrieved December 1, 2016.
27. "Ultratop.be – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
28. "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Canadian Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
29. "Dutchcharts.nl – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth" (in Dutch). Hung Medien. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
30. . Chart-Track. IRMA. Retrieved April 22, 2016.
31. "Norwegiancharts.com – Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor's Guide to Earth". Hung Medien. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
32. 28, 2016/7502/ "Official Albums Chart Top 100". Official Charts Company. Retrieved April 23, 2016.
33. "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Billboard 200)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
34. "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Top Americana/Folk Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
35. "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Top Country Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
36. "Sturgill Simpson Chart History (Top Rock Albums)". Billboard. Retrieved April 26, 2016.
37. "Americana / Folk Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
38. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
39. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2016". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
40. "Americana / Folk Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
41. "Top Country Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.
42. "Top Rock Albums – Year-End 2017". Billboard. Retrieved June 14, 2020.