Sturgill Simpson's A Sailor's Guide To Earth is not your typical major label debut. It's a concept album conceived, written, produced, and performed by a country music heterodox with a unique vision.

Crafted as a letter to his infant son, A Sailor's Guide … chronicles Simpson's life, loves and lessons learned. The backdrop for this narrative is a panorama of American music: rock, R&B, jazz, blues, electronica, and synth pop plus horns provided by funk/soul band the Dap-Kings and a cover of Nirvana's "In Bloom." Indeed, the most country thing about it are Simpson's soulful vocals, which have been likened to Waylon Jennings. Tying it all together is a nautical theme, evoking Simpson's years in the U.S. Navy.

Simpson says he entered the studio with a clear vision of what he wanted. His challenge as a first-time producer was thus twofold: "Getting what was in my head realized, and not being open to suggestions or input," he says. "Those were the only things I was concerned about, just because I could already hear it in my head." 

Most of A Sailor's Guide … was recorded over five days in early August 2015 at The Butcher Shoppe Recording Stuio, the Nashville, Tenn., facility owned by GRAMMY-winning engineer David "Ferg" Ferguson.

Following, Sturgill Simpson and other key players offer an inside look at the making of A Sailor's Guide To Earth.

David "Ferg" Ferguson (mixer/engineer): Sturgill and I met at a card game at [the Black Keys'] Dan Auerbach's house.

Sturgill Simpson (artist): Yeah, I met Ferg at a poker game. Obviously, his reputation precedes him but honestly, he's a Tennessee boy and I'm from Eastern Kentucky and I just felt an immediate comfort and familiarity with him. And the aesthetic of The Butcher Shoppe reminded me a lot of the basement den at my grandparents' old house. Nothing flashy; unpretentious.

Sean Sullivan (engineer/mixer): The only person who really knew what was going to happen was Sturgill. There was no pre-production in the traditional sense of sitting down with the producer and going over the songs.

Simpson: There was none of that! I guess in an effort to make the label and my manager feel a little bit less nervous I just told everybody we were going to record some demos. But I knew I was going to make a record. When recording my songs, I think it's better if the band's never heard them. There's a nervous energy, a danger that you get that isn't there when everybody comes in with worked out parts because they had demos to live with for a week.

Miles Miller (drummer): "In Bloom" was the first song that we cut. We all just showed up at the studio to set up for the next day and Sturgill said that he wanted to do that song. Us being musicians, we wanted to take a crack at it, so we got in there. We'd never even played it until then.

Simpson: With "In Bloom," I knew within the narrative of the album that this was going to be the centerpiece. It was about getting the essence of that song so I had a touchstone or beacon to go in and frame things around.

Gavin Lurssen (mastering engineer): Very few records these days have the kind of narrative arc that this record had. It was very noticeable and it struck me when I was working on it. 

Ferguson: I remember standing outside the studio in the parking lot, talking about getting the strings and horns. I said, "Well, you can do whatever you want. We can go to New York and get those, we can get the Dap-Kings if you want."

Simpson: I guess it being the first time I ever recorded on a major label, I had to be reminded of the toolbox that was now available. I said to Ferg, "Man, it would be cool if we could get someone like the Dap-Kings," and he just said, "Well, you know Sturgill, you can do that. That's what Atlantic Records is for." So I called my A&R guy and said, "I want to get the Dap-Kings." A couple hours later he had some stuff lined up. They probably shouldn't have told me all I had to do was ask!

Miller: On "Brace For Impact [Live A Little]," Joe [Laur Joamets] our guitar player  was plugged in and ready to go. He basically just tore it up. What you hear on the record was the first take. We were all just freaking out because it had the bite, the growl that song needed. That was an exciting moment.

Simpson: We cut the record and then I had to go back on the road for a month or two, which gave me time to live with it. In hindsight, that was probably the best learning experience in all of this: being able to step away and analyze it. "Welcome To Earth [Pollywag]" was originally two songs. There was another verse that I ended up cutting. Hearing it with everything else, it just didn't serve the narrative. I realized that it was like a page needed to turn, so why not do an old "Sly-Stone-tape-splice" and go boom! right into the next song?

Ferguson: Sturgill wanted to open "Call To Arms" with bagpipes. He wanted bagpipes bad. There's really not any bagpipes around Nashville that we know of, so he recorded that intro in Scotland.

Simpson: I knew I wanted that "coming ashore battle-cry feel" and I thought, "Screw it, what better place to get these sounds?"

Sullivan: A lot of the ocean sounds and seagulls were recorded by Sturgill when he was on tour.

Jeff Steinberg (arranger): He wanted some whale sounds, and as opposed to putting in a sound effect, we did it on the strings. That was on "The Breakers Roar." I think it wound up in a couple different places on the album

Simpson: The front of the record is the Atlantic Ocean and the back … is the Pacific Ocean.

Lurssen: Sturgill flew [to L.A.] from Nashville for our mastering session. It was all in his hands. And he just said, "Look, I know your work. I want you to do what you do and see what you make of this thing." As I was going through it, I started to feel what it was about. And I started to ask him questions. He didn't volunteer anything. It was all me prompting him and I completely got it. I understood the project. That's probably why it's doing so well because it comes alive.

Lisa Zhito is a Nashville-based writer and teacher. She last interviewed Amy Lee on Evanescence's GRAMMY for Best New Artist for 2003.

Tune in to the 59th GRAMMY Awards live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Feb. 12 at 8 p.m. ET/5 p.m. PT on CBS.