From Elvis to Allman: JD Simo on a guitar journey with his musical heroes

Even beyond being part of a huge tribute to Gregg Allman and the Allman Brothers in Montgomery, blues guitarist and singer JD Simo of Nashville has a whole lot on his plate this holiday season.

The Chicago native’s upcoming album Songs From The House of Grease — coming on Jan. 13 — has a couple of singles that have just been released. Also, that’s his guitar work you’re hearing on the Grammy-nominated soundtrack for this year’s “Elvis” movie.

With the Allman Family Revival tour, it seems natural that Simo would have a decent sized role in Devon Allman’s touring tribute to his dad, Gregg Allman. The show is Thursday 8 p.m. at the Montgomery Performing Arts Centre.

Montgomery’s tour stop, which is happening on what would have been Gregg Allman 75^th birthday, is a little extra special for Simo. Back in 2015, two years before Gregg passed, Simo spent a month on the road opening for him.

Now, Simo is opening for the Allman Family Revival, and Montgomery is one of a couple of shows where he’ll come back to join the other performers in the tribute.

“When it gets to be this time of year, it’s wonderful to get to reconvene with all these people that are friends of mine now,” Simo said.

Along with Simo, the revival includes the Devon Allman Project, Duane Betts, Luther Dickinson, Samantha Fish, Luther Dickinson, Maggie Rose, Larry McCray, the River Kittens, Orbi Orbison, Donovan Frankenreiter, John Ginty and, of course, Alabama’s own Jimmy Hall of Wet Willie.

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“(Hall) is a dear, dear friend now,” Simo said. “We’ve had many great experiences, musical and personal. We have a lot of inside jokes, Jimmy and I, and I’m a huge fan. When you’re on a show with Jimmy Hall, no one has to worry about being the best on the show because it’s always going to be Jimmy. He’s going to go out and pull something out of himself that is otherworldly.”

The way the revival works is that music guests play some of their own material, and then do their version of a Gregg Allman or Allman Brothers song. Simo’s favorite Allman Brothers song is “Dreams,” which he always tells Devon Allman he’d love to play.

“The music is obviously wonderful, and the catalog of songs that are the Allman catalog, it’s always a treat to get to play them and have fun with them,” Simo said.

Tickets to Thursday’s show range from $38 to $68. They’re available at mpaconline.org. or by calling the box office at 334-481-5100.

Simo’s no stranger to Montgomery, having played at The Sanctuary before COVID hit, plus visiting local sites connected to another of his music heroes, Hank Williams.

“I’m looking forward to coming back,” Simo said. “Like many music fanatics, I’ve made the pilgrimage to town to go to the Hank Williams Museum, and go visit Hank’s grave, and the old boarding house where Hank used to live.”

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New singles unleashed from Simo

When Jan. 13 comes around next year, you’ll have a chance to hear Simo’s full album Songs From the House of Grease. Until then, he’s got a couple of singles from it out now — a new version of Mississippi Fred McDowell’s “Mortgage On My Soul” and a fresh take on John Coltrane's “Afro Blue.”

Simo said he’s always liked the words to “Mortgage On My Soul.”

“I love that one chord trance north Mississippi blues in particular, and I also love Afrobeat,” Simo said.

Simo said “Afro Blue” wasn’t something he’d planned to record. He has so much reverence to that style of music that it made him hesitant.

“We were screwing around while we were recording,” Simo said. “We played it and got a wonderful take. I’m really happy to share it.”

His last album Mind Control was released last year, created during the pandemic lockdown with Adam Abrashoff on drums and Adam Bednarik (bass, producer and engineer).

The 'Elvis' soundtrack

When describing work for the soundtrack of Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” — the 2022 film starring Austin Butler as Elvis Presley and Tom Hanks as Colonel Tom Parker — one word comes to mind for Simo: “Incredible.”

“The scope of the project, all the things that we got to encounter, different artist styles, different musicians from the formative years of my playing that I got to assimilate, the caliber of musicians that I got to work with,” Simo said. “The team that was put together for us to do this is now some of my greatest friends on the planet. The entire experience was life changing.”

Simo's guitar work is on 12 of the album's tracks.

Along with Butler and, of course Elvis Presley himself, the soundtrack includes a huge lineup of artists: Doja Cat, Kacey Musgraves, Stevie Nicks, Eminem, CeeLo Green, Jack White, Chris Isaak, Swae Lee, Diplo, Lenesha Randolph, Maneskin, Nardo Wick, Yola, Jazmine Sullivan, Pnau, and Paravi.

Doja Cat's "Vegas", which has over 275 million streams on Spotify, samples Simo's sessions with music supervisor David Cobb, and was nominated for Best Rap Performance for the 2023 Grammys.

The soundtrack was also nominated for Best Compilation Soundtrack for Visual Media.

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Becoming JD Simo: It all started with Elvis

Music is in Simo’s blood, but not his bloodline.

“I come from a family of athletes,” Simo said. “I’m the black sheep of the family.”

So what was it that tipped Simo into a world of music over brawn?

“I saw Elvis on television when I was about four,” said Simo. This would have been around 1989, close to 12 years after Presley's death. “I really was enamored with him, and also, shortly after Scotty Moore, his guitar player.”

At about the same time, Simo and his older sister watched the iconic 1980 film “The Blues Brothers.”

“I was very taken with everything about that movie,” Simo said. “The scene with John Lee Hooker and James Brown and Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles, and also the band itself which included (guitarist) Steve Cropper.”

That led to more and more curiosity, following musicians through their bands. And remember, Simo started going deep into this rabbit hole of music before he was five.

“I got a guitar right around then. I begged my parents for one,” Simo said. “I just sat in my room and listened to records, and taught myself.”

By the time he was 9, Simo was playing actual gigs in bars, and by 12 he played in bands on weekends. He started touring at 13, and by 15 decided to leave school behind for full-time life on the road. No “day job” required.

“I’m fortunate because I’ve never had a job, and I certainly don’t come from money,” Simo said.

Simo said working on the “Elvis” movie soundtrack was a big "full circle moment" for him.

“That’s literally how I learned to play the instrument,” he said.

Follow Simo online at https://simo.fm.

Montgomery Advertiser reporter Shannon Heupel covers things to do in the River Region. Contact him at sheupel@gannett.com

This article originally appeared on Montgomery Advertiser: From Elvis to Allman: JD Simo on a guitar journey with his heroes