And the fabulous Jack Browning too!
AUK is giving readers a chance to win a pair of tickets to see the fabulous JP Harris at the fabled Lexington in London on Tuesday 3rd of June. That’s next week! Harris will be fully revved up after a weekend at the Red Rooster Festival and he will be ably supported by artist and rising star Jack Browning. To enter into the prize draw just complete your name and email in the form below before close of play tomorrow (Friday 30th May). THIS GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED.
In 2011, Harris loaded his van and trailer with every tool, guitar, and keepsake he could cram and moved to Nashville, TN. Shortly before the release of his debut album “I’ll Keep Calling,” which would win him countless accolades from various outlets and entities unheard of by the general masses. It was enough praise to keep him on the road. He would go on to record 2014’s “Home Is Where The Hurt Is,” 2018’s “Sometimes Dogs Bark At Nothing,” and 2021’s Appalachian banjo-centric side project album “Don’t You Marry No Railroad Man,” under the moniker JP Harris’ Dreadful Wind & Rain. JP’s historic restoration carpentry has continued to be a baseline for his relationship to music; the yin to his yang, the Burt to his Ernie, the Dolly to his Porter. It was through this concurrent line of work that he met another twice-initialed singer with a penchant for old Americana music, obscure film, and overly elaborate ethnic meal preparations: one JD McPherson. The two became fast friends and would eventually, through many twists, turns, false starts, and biblically-proportionate plagues, enter a modest studio in Nashville to record Harris’ latest album “JP Harris Is A Trash Fire.”
Over the course of nine months in 2023, they recorded a sometimes lush, sometimes sparse, and sometimes jarring country album of Harris’ originals, loudly and violently squelching any attempt to pigeon-hole a song into any subgenre of country music. Only albums by Lee Hazelwood and an obscure folk album Waylon Jennings made when his hair was still short were allowed to be mentioned in reference. Featuring the guest vocals of Erin Rae, The Watson Twins, Shovels & Rope, and producer JD McPherson himself, the record is equal parts satire, reflection, and apology to those who would listen.
Harris has been steadily elbowing the definitive boundaries of “country music” wider with every album, both sonically and lyrically, and his latest piece of self described “Avant-Country” is no exception. Even within the rapidly growing world of “underground” country music, Harris still considers himself an outsider, content to inhabit a gray area where punk rock ethos, folk art aesthetic, and the workingman’s ballad mingle. When he’s not touring, JP Harris can be found fixing historic houses, riding old motorcycles, or picking through scrap piles for useable refuse. What’s not to like?
If you aren’t lucky enough to win the two tickets, you can get them from this link.
