In a country music world rife with millionaire cowboys singing about the same old stuff, Sturgill Simpson is a breath of fresh air. As was made evident on his breakthrough 2014 album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music, Simpson seems to be working on a completely different level. Simpson’s voice, which recalls a young Waylon Jennings, keeps things grounded in traditional country, but his lyrics and arrangements imply a deeper ambition, and Metamodern Sounds makes good on Simpson’s ambitions. Anyone who can take a piece of synth-pop cheese like When In Rome’s “The Promise” and turn it into a hauntingly beautiful tale of regret is good in our book. Simpson is currently on a tour that finds him in the mountains of Vermont for a performance at the Higher Ground Ballroom. For more information and to purchase tickets, click here.