In the fourth quarter of 2020, the country music rogue Sturgill Simpson released two different surprise albums, both of which were experiments in bluegrass. In October, Simpson came out with Cuttin’ Grass Vol. 1: The Butcher Shoppe Sessions. Last month, Simpson followed it up with Cuttin’ Grass, Volume 2: The Cowboy Arms Sessions. Simpson recorded both albums in quarantine with crack bands of bluegrass players, and he used both records as opportunities to reimagine songs from his past records. Last night, Simpson played one of those bluegrass reworkings on late-night TV.

Simpson was the musical guest on last night’s episode of The Tonight Show. He and his backing band performed the bluegrass take on “Life Of Sin,” a track that originally appeared on Simpson’s 2014 breakout album Metamodern Sounds In Country Music. The track, which was ’70s-style outlaw country when Simpson first recorded it, works just fine as a bluegrass ramble. (Simpson included the first re-recorded version on the first volume of Cuttin’ Grass.) The “Life Of Sin” lyrics, about medicating yourself into oblivion, might not be the most traditional fare, but it’s not like there’s ever been a historical shortage of bluegrass songs about getting loaded or the guilt that comes later.

On The Tonight Show, Simpson played with a backing band that included fiddle, banjo, mandolin, and stand-up bass. That’s demanding music to play, but Simpson and his band, performing remotely from somewhere called the Stanton Inn, were fully locked-in. Watch the performance below.

Both volumes of Cuttin’ Grass are out now on High Top Mountain Records/Thirty Tigers.