Musician Sturgill Simpson is lashing out at the country music industry for naming an award after Merle Haggard -- the Oildale-born musician who openly disliked the Nashville country music scene for decades.
Simpson took to his Facebook page to speak out on the ACM Merle Haggard Spirit Award, reported by the website Music Row:
Im writing this because I want to go on record and say I find it utterly disgusting the way everybody on Music Row is coming up with any reason they can to hitch their wagon to his name while knowing full and damn well what he thought about them.
Simpson went on to vent frustrations about the choices made in Nashville and the country music business there:
Some days, this town and this industry have a way of making we wish I could just go sit on Mars and build glass clocks.
He later updated his Facebook page after he found out that Miranda Lambert had won the award, noting that he didn't want his feelings to be a reflection on her talents.
In the end, his hope is that Merle could have been alive to have commented on the issue:
Mostly though, I just wish Merle was still alive. I'd love for them to all hear his thoughts on the matter.
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Simpson is scheduled to to play at the Fox Theater in Bakersfield on November 18.
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