Sturgill Simpson has surprise-released a second bluegrass album. Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 2 – The Cowboy Arms Sessions arrived early Friday morning with 12 new recordings, including the previously unheard “Hobo Cartoon” — a song written by Simpson and Merle Haggard.
“I wish I was riding a steam train right out of the pages of time,” Simpson sings in the nostalgic tune, which namechecks “The Singing Brakeman” Jimmie Rodgers and Bing Crosby and celebrates the “heyday of the railroad.” “This is a song how the way things used to be/in the script of a hobo cartoon,” he croons in the payoff line.
In a release accompanying the album, Simpson details the origin of his collaboration with Haggard, who died in 2016.
