SIMO: “Long May You Sail”

Photo by Derek Martinez

JD Simo grew up in Chicago, a stone’s throw from a string of clubs that routinely housed electric blues luminaries like B.B. King and Buddy Guy. “I loved how dirty and nasty blues music sounded,” he told Rolling Stone last year. “I always equate it to what hip-hop is now. Parents didn’t approve of it. But it just really appealed to me.” So much so that Simo dropped out of school and started touring around the country. The nightly gigs became his blues education.

Simo soon landed in Nashville and worked as a session guy, appearing on over a hundred albums. He’s been called the best guitarist in Music City, and part of that is due to his wide musical appetite. While most of the session work veers towards country, he’s equally adept at blues, rock, jazz, and more. His namesake power trio, SIMO, shows off his various sides, earning approval from Gregg Allman and Dan Auerbach alike. On January 29, SIMO returns with its second album, Let Love Show The Way. “Long May You Sail” finds JD Simo pulling off some purely Hendrix-ian guitar moves on top of the song’s sludgy psychedelic blues. Download the song below and pre-order the full album here.

–Art Levy

Subscribe via iTunes or Stitcher to get the KUTX Song Of The Day delivered to you daily.

Support KUTX’s ability to bring you closer to the music.

Donate Today