On Volume 2, we recorded everything I was too afraid to do on Volume 1. It’s hard to deny that this is a much more personal record. I was thinking about my kids, my grandfather, my wife.

Vol. 2 features a returning crew of celebrated bluegrass players who were also involved in Vol. 1, including mandolin player Sierra Hull, guitarist Tim O’Brien, and fiddler Stuart Duncan. Recorded at the Cowboy Jack Clement's Cowboy Arms Hotel and Recording Spa in Nashville, Tenn., The Cowboy Arms Sessions largely draws on 2016's A Sailor's Guide to Earth, but it also features two previously unreleased tracks, "Tennessee" and "Hobo Cartoon," the latter of which Simpson co-wrote with the late Merle Haggard. Haggard sent Simpson the track before his death, which Simpson ultimately finished years later.

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