Award shows be damned. It looks like Sturgill Simpson will be getting a little more screen time this year in a totally new way. The alternative country star just landed a spot on an upcoming CBS All Access series called $1.
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Set in post-recession America, $1 follows a group of strangers in a small rust belt town. The different characters all connect to a shocking multiple murder as a one dollar bill exchanges hands. According to a press release, "The path of the dollar bill and point of view in each episode paint a picture of a modern American town with deep class and cultural divides that spill out into the open as the town's secrets get revealed."
Simpson plays Ken Fry, a resident who worked at the steel mill. Fry loses his job in the series, and he eventually turns to petty theft and frequent yard sales to make a living.
The show marks Simpson's acting debut, though he's no stranger to screen time. Simpson played Saturday Night Live twice in the past few years. He also snagged the 2016 Grammy for Best Country Album with his record A Sailor's Guide To Earth.
Other actors joining Simpson on the cast of $1 include John Carroll Lynch (American Horror Story, The Walking Dead) and Leslie Odom Jr. (from the Broadway musical Hamilton). The murder mystery series starts production in late March in Pittsburgh.
CBS All Access is the network's digital subscription video-on-demand and live streaming platform. The networks offers its original content on the platform, but $1 marks a shift in offering more online-only content. Other services such as Netflix, Hulu and Amazon all offer original streaming content to great success.
But Sturgill Simpson isn't the only country star getting into acting. Tim McGraw and Trace Adkins all notably played roles in films recently. And they, of course, are following in the footsteps of greats like Kris Kristofferson and Glen Campbell, who successfully navigated music and acting careers for decades.
