Fort Worth’s Bryan Simpson signs with New West Records

Missed this a couple weeks back, but congratulations are in order for Fort Worth native Bryan Simpson.

The now Nashville-based musician, who performs under the moniker The Whistles and the Bells, has signed a deal with New West Records, which will re-release his terrific 2014 debut.

I spoke with Simpson at the time of The Whistles and the Bells’ release, four years removed from his controversial decision to walk away from the critically acclaimed Cadillac Sky, and found him to be a man and an artist very much in transition.

“We want these sort of bumper sticker truths that are about four words long,” Simpson told me in February 2014. “Life just ain’t like that. Certainly, this record deals with my relationship with God, which pours out into my relationships with every other person on the planet. … God is intricate, and there’s a lot to that relationship.”

If you haven’t checked out the record, it’s well worth doing so — whether you’re revisiting it from the first time around, or giving it a spin when New West re-releases it later this year.

This story was originally published April 10, 2015 at 12:09 PM with the headline "Fort Worth’s Bryan Simpson signs with New West Records."