JP Harris @ Omeara, London
As the rain trickled, the fog covered the skyscrapers of London Bridge making it look more like a scene from Lord of The Rings. The moon set sail up in the sky, while fans stood patiently waiting in line at the Omeara door to see singer/songwriter JP Harris and his band The Tough Choices.
Opening up the night were The Tough Choices bandmembers, Miss Tess and Thomas Bryan Eaton. In a double Tele whammy, Miss Tess played old and new songs including 2016 album Baby, We All Know playing ‘Ride That Train,’ ‘Moonshiner’ and ‘Going Downtown’ while debuting new song ‘Moon is an Ashtray.’ During the set, the singer/songwriter captivated the audience with her mellow, honky tonkin sound mirroring the landscape of country music leading ladies.
Taking a short break for an ultimate start, JP Harris and The Tough Choices took center stage.
The varied setlist included a cover of ‘California Turnarounds,’ while taking a trip down memory lane with ‘Two For the Road’ [I’ll Keep Calling] and ‘South Oklahoma’ [Home is Where the Hurt is]. JP was able to share stories behind the new release ‘Sometimes Dog’s Bark at Nothing,’ the candied album comes 4 years after his 2016 album ‘Home is Where The Hurt is.’
Each song came with its own unique introduction. ‘Hard Road’ was inspired by mischievous friends - Harris shared some valuable lessons by saying “If you’re going to be bad, be quick!” That was followed by the intimate ‘I Only Drink Alone’ and later opening up about the inequality and the hardship for females in the entertainment business with ‘Lady in the Spotlight.’ Dedicated to his mother, the mellow moving song ‘Runaway’ was an open letter narrating a close to heart story of his neverending ventures in life and staying nowhere long. Lifting up the pace with ‘Young Women and Old Guitars’ saw a dazzling crossover between rock’n’roll and country. The setlist went on to surprise audience with a kickass tribute to Terry Allen “The fact that this guy writes great songs!. This is one about being on the Texas panhandle written by my friend Terry Allen.” With ‘Armerlio Highway’ the buzz of the guitars and pedal steel vibrates into one's soul as the bass and the drums lift you from the ground..
The young songster outweighed his set not only by introducing his songwriting craftsmanship but also sharing his favorite music he loves with his audience. This gave them a taste of a wide range of classic from Waylon Jennings ‘Lonesome On'ry and Mean’, AC/DC’s ‘Long Way to the Top’ and the king of Bluegrass Jimmy Martin with ‘Free Born Man’ proving to be irresistible with their swinging country tunes that left fans wanting to hear more after taking off from stage and returning for an encore. This time stripped bare with no guitar only JP standing in front of the microphone singing ‘Miss Jeanne-Marie’ while the keyboard and bass played in the background. Ending the set with country music storyteller Mickey Newbury classic ‘ Why Have You Been Gone So Long’
Despite the venue failing to keep the sound and lighting at appropriate levels, much of the event was disturbed due to technical issues however JP Harris and The Tough Choices kept on going until the very end, leaving fans with wide grins on their faces and happy tears in both eyes.
Opening up the night were The Tough Choices bandmembers, Miss Tess and Thomas Bryan Eaton. In a double Tele whammy, Miss Tess played old and new songs including 2016 album Baby, We All Know playing ‘Ride That Train,’ ‘Moonshiner’ and ‘Going Downtown’ while debuting new song ‘Moon is an Ashtray.’ During the set, the singer/songwriter captivated the audience with her mellow, honky tonkin sound mirroring the landscape of country music leading ladies.
Taking a short break for an ultimate start, JP Harris and The Tough Choices took center stage.
The varied setlist included a cover of ‘California Turnarounds,’ while taking a trip down memory lane with ‘Two For the Road’ [I’ll Keep Calling] and ‘South Oklahoma’ [Home is Where the Hurt is]. JP was able to share stories behind the new release ‘Sometimes Dog’s Bark at Nothing,’ the candied album comes 4 years after his 2016 album ‘Home is Where The Hurt is.’
Each song came with its own unique introduction. ‘Hard Road’ was inspired by mischievous friends - Harris shared some valuable lessons by saying “If you’re going to be bad, be quick!” That was followed by the intimate ‘I Only Drink Alone’ and later opening up about the inequality and the hardship for females in the entertainment business with ‘Lady in the Spotlight.’ Dedicated to his mother, the mellow moving song ‘Runaway’ was an open letter narrating a close to heart story of his neverending ventures in life and staying nowhere long. Lifting up the pace with ‘Young Women and Old Guitars’ saw a dazzling crossover between rock’n’roll and country. The setlist went on to surprise audience with a kickass tribute to Terry Allen “The fact that this guy writes great songs!. This is one about being on the Texas panhandle written by my friend Terry Allen.” With ‘Armerlio Highway’ the buzz of the guitars and pedal steel vibrates into one's soul as the bass and the drums lift you from the ground..
The young songster outweighed his set not only by introducing his songwriting craftsmanship but also sharing his favorite music he loves with his audience. This gave them a taste of a wide range of classic from Waylon Jennings ‘Lonesome On'ry and Mean’, AC/DC’s ‘Long Way to the Top’ and the king of Bluegrass Jimmy Martin with ‘Free Born Man’ proving to be irresistible with their swinging country tunes that left fans wanting to hear more after taking off from stage and returning for an encore. This time stripped bare with no guitar only JP standing in front of the microphone singing ‘Miss Jeanne-Marie’ while the keyboard and bass played in the background. Ending the set with country music storyteller Mickey Newbury classic ‘ Why Have You Been Gone So Long’
Despite the venue failing to keep the sound and lighting at appropriate levels, much of the event was disturbed due to technical issues however JP Harris and The Tough Choices kept on going until the very end, leaving fans with wide grins on their faces and happy tears in both eyes.
Before the show we sat down with JP
CiTUK: Hi JP How’s it going lately?
JP Harris: I’m good, a little road weary but in a good way. This is our 13th/14th show or something like that. We are about 3 weeks in.
CiTUK: How’s your sleeping schedule been then?
JP Harris: Pretty backwards, not a lot of it. It’s not really schedule it’s more of an afterthought we do every couple of days. Last night we all slept the first full night since we got here 3 weeks ago. The schedule of traveling itself and then also the enthusiasm of doing something everywhere we go takes ahold of our sleep.
CiTUK: I believe this isn’t your first time here. What keeps you coming back?
JP Harris: We like to go to new places where people want to hear us play music. It’s kind of the whole reason I started playing music in the first place, I mean I love the act of playing music itself but years ago if someone would ask me what was my endgame playing music was like ‘What’s your goal, what are you trying to do? Are trying to be famous? What are you trying change what you do for a living?’ it was really an excuse to travel without being a tourist basically. It gets you a lot more acceptance and more welcome I think in places when you show up in places and tell people that you’re a traveling band as opposed to ‘I’m a hiker I came here on my college vacation’ it gets a pass like ‘Oh, you’re a traveling musician ok’ a little more accepting utterance in that regard.
CiTUK: Before we go anywhere, we have to establish one thing! Last night a friend of mine bought my to attention to you doing a cover of Terry Allen’s Amarillo Highway, not to mention performing with him live during Newport Fest in 2016. I MEAN…
JP Harris: So, I’d heard Terry Allen’s name for years and then I didn't really get turned on to him until maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I started hearing his music and It’s funny because there’s such a wide and deep catalog of country music and a lot of people dive really specifically into one genre of it or the other, like either get really into the classics like the 50’s and 60’s stuff or people get into the more folk influence country or whatever. So this whole Texas Songwriter scene of the 70’s was it’s whole own whole thing. I never really delved into it much then I realized it was Terry Allen and he was like the prophet I’ve been waiting to find in my whole career. I mean just phenomenal songwriter and player but also one of the quirky, sarcastic, poignant artists that I’ve ever heard and created full bodies of work. The songs stand alone but the fact that all of his records have been these overarching tales from one end to the other. The titles and the characters he’d created is just phenomenal. How I met him is actually a funny story. I think that was my 3rd year playing at Newport Fest in a row and I really got involved with that festival. We actually just turned down a really incredible offer for a festival in France 2 days ago because it fell in the same weekend as Newport. I was like I don’t care how much money they’re offering I can’t do it because it’s Newport weekend! But that year we were the first act of the whole festival on Friday morning. The festival producers are friends of mine and one of the producers of the festival Jay Sweet got up and introduced us, it was sort of a big ceremony that kicked off the festival and the only covers we did in our set was ‘Armerilio Highway’ so when I got off the stage and my other pal from the festival staff was sitting there kinda laughing at me. I got down and he was like, “Man, I can’t believe you played ‘Amerallio Highway’ that Terry Allen tune” and I was like “Yeah man it’s great, I’m stocked I love playing that song” and he was like “Yeah it was bold man!” I was like “What do you mean” he finally then picked up that I had no idea what he was talking about and he was like “Terry is here man, he’s playing this afternoon as a secret surprise guest” So about an hour later I walked around to one of the backstages and sitting in chairs quietly was Terry Allen, Joe Ely, and Kris Kristofferson. They were brought up as the 3 surprise guests and there were not announced at all! So, I got to go over and hang out and sit down for a while and shoot the shit. So, in Newport fest they have one indoor stage with a very limited capacity so I got to watch all 3 of them do solo acoustic sets which was mind-blowing. Then found out the next day that they were playing a real set on stage with some friends of mine as a backing band. So one of the guys that were involved was like “Hey man, you ought to get up with Terry and do ‘Amarillo Highway’ since you did it yesterday on your stage” I was really nervous about it, I went into Terry’s dressing room and was like “Hey man, I’m JP” and told him the funny story about playing his song and not knowing he was going to be there and he got a kick out of it and was like “Yeah, yeah come up on stage with me, lets do it” So, I got to sit backstage and kinda play through the chords a couple of times. It’s been a highlight of my career just to get up there. He’s just an incredible guy, really mellow, soft-spoken, funny anything you’d hoped him to be and expect Terry Allen to be and he is and more so pretty cool. And I don’t want to spoil the surprise but you’re going to hear it again tonight.
CiTUK: Wow! what a story! Now, congrats on your recent release, ‘Sometimes Dogs at Nothing,’ how does it feel coming back after a 4 year hiatus?
JP Harris: It feels pretty good actually because I’ve been sort of laying low back in the states in the last 3 years, we still been fairly active just by the nature that I have an established music career but compared to a bunch of the previous years where I’d been touring a 100, 150 shows a year we were paired down to do 20 to 30 US shows the most. So I put out my last record [Home is Where the Hurt is] and did not know what my expectations were exactly but I know there were not met. I kinda crashed down back to earth a little bit after that record, came out feeling like I should’ve gotten further ahead with it or something. I don’t know, it was well received but I think I was a little naive in believing that is was sort of like that was my next big break the next album I was doing. Then, I realized very soon after it came out, what I needed to do was take a step back from this sort of what I think of it a constant forward stumbling motion in my music career, always kind of bumbling from next thing to the next thing, not having any direction or anything. So, we come to a time to focus on touring Europe more, so we’re actually playing more European dates then we were US dates in the last 3 years. And the record itself [Sometimes Dogs Bark Nothing] coalesced really nicely, everything kinda came together this whole tour had been booked before the record was done but we didn’t know how it was coming out and release date or anything like that. So, the fact it synced up to come out right before we came over here was sort of like cosmically made, it was meant to be and some patience and letting some time elapse too. Just let things play themselves in their natural order. I think it was all paid off. So, it’s nice to come back properly. Our last record has been out 6 months [Hurst is Where the Home is] before we came over here but we really didn’t have much of a team of any sorts, we had some minor distribution over here. But it was much smaller operation trying launch the whole thing. So, we were playing a word of mouth crowd and I feel like ever since we landed here we were seeing a massive piece of press. One of the big Dutch national newspaper, some of the German radio stations and media outlets have been given us huge coverage. So, it was all synced up a lot more clearly. it feels good and it’s our first time back since my last record was pretty new to the UK. So, it feels like, Ok I went home, regrouped a little and now I’m coming back to kick your ass! It’ll be a friendly ass kicking though.
CiTUK: Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing deals with many themes and emotions as you mentioned, from heartache, pain and dark paths. At its release, you shared a statement over on Instagram about your experience and being vulnerable. In Songs, like I only Drink Alone- When I Quit Drinking among others- were personal but one that caught my attention most was Lady in the Spotlight can you tell us more about the song?
JP Harris: That one is especially pointed. I feel like I have to do a lot of explaining for that song and I have a personal desire to do so. I think at first listening to the song can be misconstrued sort of to the similar fashion out there. There’s a whole slew of country songs that are very written from the standpoint of a heartless, male drifter who uses women and moves on and I wanted to make sure and so I’ve been vocal about the meaning of this song that no one took the impression of the story to be that which it is, in fact, the opposite. Really, I’ve never written songs that I think of being political beyond the basic human condition but this one was very much. There’s a situation ongoing obviously with gender and inequality in the world and as a country musician I feel like my music serves as a middle ground for people from across the political and social spectrum, and this is something I like about country music and at the same time finding the balance between expressing my political viewpoints and not alienating people. It’s a very tricky balance, I think, the one that should be agreed upon by anyone from across the borders affected that there is a stark contrast in the advantage of men having over a woman. In the entertainment business in the art world, I would’ve expected when I got started that there would be more progressive mindset and we wouldn’t have as many as these issues that deal with day to day that society does. So, as I got more involved in it I started to see, even though luckily in the independent business somewhat less relevant it seems still a little bit twisted, with patriarchal infrastructure in place at the top level of the music industry even all the way down the independent music world. A whole load of shitty dudes who run the industry the way they want to. To the advantage they want to and that women who don’t fit into the conventional bullshit molds of beauty standards or what their bodies should look like, the subject they should sing or talk about. They, by no means given a fair chance in advancing no matter how talented they are! and I’ve seen at the same time women who maybe do fit in that cover girl format a little better allowed into a certain point and then faced with this decision of how they advance their career and without going into too much gory details.. It’s just sad story that plays out over and over still today and has for years from acting to modeling to music to everything and for me painting a little bit of vitriol picture, maybe like it will at least in some regard open a dialogue in peoples own mind about maybe what part they are playing. Its bullshit, it's like its still 1955 it's unbelievable especially in the art world. Even from a sonic standpoint, it’s probably one of my favorite song of the record because it’s the most unconventional. The arrangement, the instrumentals. I had no idea how it was going to sound like when we went into the studio and then there was a really cool meshing of ideas, there’s no drums, there’s no bass, there’s no pedal steel it's 4 acoustic guitars and a weird 70’s synthesizer. It’s a pretty cool weird song.
CiTUK: When coming in the studio, you had a rather interesting approach when recording the album you said “Take five days to think about these songs. Please write notes of whatever ideas come to mind. Please don’t talk to each other about it. Let’s all just get in the studio on day one and compare notes as we go.” why is that?
JP Harris: That was basically it! I mean, I had been very hands on with my previous 2 records. I technically produced them both. Though the engineers on both records had a big hand in it, I always try to credit them with that. But, I was kind of controlling and obsessive over all these little details and I would go into the studio with the bones of the song pretty much mapped out in a very rigid structure in my mind and I didn’t want to vary from those ideas, what the songs needed to sound like and I kind of strong armed everyone to fit into that musically and everyone was happy to do so, and it made cool songs and cool recordings. Kind of keeping my ideas of being a little more laid back with my career in general and sort of letting things take their natural course, I just wanted to try something different and I knew i had a killer bunch of musicians and a great producer and engineer and I knew that the songs were good and of course at any moment something was going of course in any direction I was not at happy with, I still have the right to step in and say “Guys you better put the brakes this is bullshit, this isn't working out, it sounds dumb” but I never had to do that it was great and it helped us avoid anyone coming in with a production efficiency, economic mindset. We came in we had plenty of time to work, we had a huge super comfortable really well equipped studio to work in, close to home, everyone gets to wake up in their own bed, go home to eat dinner with their wifes, buddy or whatever and I think it resulted in a much more spontaneous, creative studio experience for all of us.
CiTUK: Let’s talk childhood a bit, what lead you into country music and what was it about it that attracted you?
JP Harris: Well, that is a funny one that was a long and winding road! because I heard a lot of country music when I was a kid, both of my grandparents listen to it. My folks did not listen to country music so much. For instance my mum listened to a lot of folk music from her day and my dad listened to a lot of southern rock and the classic rock of his day but then when I was 11 or 12 I started listening to punk rock and skateboarding and doing all that shit and for years I only listened to heavy metal. then when I left home and started living in a really rural places, living a completely different life than my upbringing had been, so A by necessity I didn’t have any electricity anywhere I lived so there wasn’t an ability to plug in stacks of guitar amps and shred heavy metal and B, I was hanging around a lot more of salt of the earth travelers type, being around a campfire somewhere and seeing people passing acoustic guitars around and playing folk music or old country. The themes of the stories started making more sense to me and when I eventually settled for a good long stretch in the North East corner of the US I was really far from any major city and living like a pretty old-fashioned, pretty simple lifestyle and it all just made sense to me and then I really didn’t start writing country music until I was properly 23, 24 years old or something like that, I never really thought of myself as a writer of music, I wrote some punk songs when I was a kid, if there are out there I hope I can find them again because they really should resurface, it’s like The Lost Punk Tapes of JP Harris. It’s funny because I just in the last handful of years i reconnected with all the different guys from that old punk band that I haven’t seen in ages, so that would be badass. But anyways, I worked my way into it and I just started writing songs out of frustration with fact-finding current country music for me, I didn’t have internet or anything back then, I didn’t have a cell phone I had a power running water for good sake! I just listened to old recordings obsessively. Piles of tapes in the back of my trunk.. I was just bumped out not able to see country bands then I was like fuck it, I’ll try and write some songs and the rest is kind of history.
CiTUK: With your life on the road, seeking ventures from a young age plus having many titles associated with your name from a carpenter to a sheepherder not to mention an artist too. What has life taught so far?
JP Harris: Oh Lord! That’s a pretty long laundry list. Well, there’s a few basics, it’s something from a young age my mama installed in me was real basic. We didn’t really grow up in a particularly religious household, both of my folks did grow up church going folks but sort of the basic of the golden rule of doing into to others as you have done to yourself. This served as a building block in my life that sort of stuck with me. I know I had to relearn that lesson many times in life. I think that is something I have to wake up and remind myself of everyday. You really don’t know and have no idea what anybody else is going through in the street that you might pass, somebody bumps you in the subway station and you’d be like ‘Fucking asshole watch out!’ that guy’s mum might have just died or his dog might have been run over, he might have been just fired or who knows what. Trying to maintain some sense of human dignity and compassion especially in today’s world is the most important thing that we can walk through life holding onto tightly, and living in a rural place taught me alot about understanding the difference in people, socially and politically. The other most important thing that I’ve learned is that if there’s anything that you want in life, this might sound cliche but you have to work your ass off for it. That doesn’t mean trying really hard for 6 months, doesn’t mean trying hard for a year it means your whole life needs to be committed to getting down the road that you want to get down to and being attached to the outcome is usually useless. Things never work out the way we imagine them to work out at all. I don’t know what I pictured myself doing! Spring of next year will be 10 years since I started my band and started touring with it and I have no idea what I expected 10 years down the road, probably not this. I don’t know if I expected more or less or different what it was. But I got experience a lot of things that I’ve never, never would have had past through my life had I never started playing music. I still work my ass off to be a musician! I mean I just carried all of my gear in here, there’s no guy who does that for me, there’s no one who soundchecks my guitar for me, but there’s never a moment even waking up at some confusing airport somewhere with your bags lost, a day late to go to where you need to go even in the worst of moments. Because, there’s alot, a lot of downsides of being a touring musician I never take it for granted. It’s still worth working very hard and never giving up in what I do because it got me here so..
CiTUK: I was about to ask what piece of advice can you give to our readers but you already answered it above!
JP Harris: Well! Life ain’t fair! You just gotta say fuck it and keep on going.
Thank you JP for taking the time to speak with us and we look forward to another catch up soon.
JP Harris: I’m good, a little road weary but in a good way. This is our 13th/14th show or something like that. We are about 3 weeks in.
CiTUK: How’s your sleeping schedule been then?
JP Harris: Pretty backwards, not a lot of it. It’s not really schedule it’s more of an afterthought we do every couple of days. Last night we all slept the first full night since we got here 3 weeks ago. The schedule of traveling itself and then also the enthusiasm of doing something everywhere we go takes ahold of our sleep.
CiTUK: I believe this isn’t your first time here. What keeps you coming back?
JP Harris: We like to go to new places where people want to hear us play music. It’s kind of the whole reason I started playing music in the first place, I mean I love the act of playing music itself but years ago if someone would ask me what was my endgame playing music was like ‘What’s your goal, what are you trying to do? Are trying to be famous? What are you trying change what you do for a living?’ it was really an excuse to travel without being a tourist basically. It gets you a lot more acceptance and more welcome I think in places when you show up in places and tell people that you’re a traveling band as opposed to ‘I’m a hiker I came here on my college vacation’ it gets a pass like ‘Oh, you’re a traveling musician ok’ a little more accepting utterance in that regard.
CiTUK: Before we go anywhere, we have to establish one thing! Last night a friend of mine bought my to attention to you doing a cover of Terry Allen’s Amarillo Highway, not to mention performing with him live during Newport Fest in 2016. I MEAN…
JP Harris: So, I’d heard Terry Allen’s name for years and then I didn't really get turned on to him until maybe 4 or 5 years ago. I started hearing his music and It’s funny because there’s such a wide and deep catalog of country music and a lot of people dive really specifically into one genre of it or the other, like either get really into the classics like the 50’s and 60’s stuff or people get into the more folk influence country or whatever. So this whole Texas Songwriter scene of the 70’s was it’s whole own whole thing. I never really delved into it much then I realized it was Terry Allen and he was like the prophet I’ve been waiting to find in my whole career. I mean just phenomenal songwriter and player but also one of the quirky, sarcastic, poignant artists that I’ve ever heard and created full bodies of work. The songs stand alone but the fact that all of his records have been these overarching tales from one end to the other. The titles and the characters he’d created is just phenomenal. How I met him is actually a funny story. I think that was my 3rd year playing at Newport Fest in a row and I really got involved with that festival. We actually just turned down a really incredible offer for a festival in France 2 days ago because it fell in the same weekend as Newport. I was like I don’t care how much money they’re offering I can’t do it because it’s Newport weekend! But that year we were the first act of the whole festival on Friday morning. The festival producers are friends of mine and one of the producers of the festival Jay Sweet got up and introduced us, it was sort of a big ceremony that kicked off the festival and the only covers we did in our set was ‘Armerilio Highway’ so when I got off the stage and my other pal from the festival staff was sitting there kinda laughing at me. I got down and he was like, “Man, I can’t believe you played ‘Amerallio Highway’ that Terry Allen tune” and I was like “Yeah man it’s great, I’m stocked I love playing that song” and he was like “Yeah it was bold man!” I was like “What do you mean” he finally then picked up that I had no idea what he was talking about and he was like “Terry is here man, he’s playing this afternoon as a secret surprise guest” So about an hour later I walked around to one of the backstages and sitting in chairs quietly was Terry Allen, Joe Ely, and Kris Kristofferson. They were brought up as the 3 surprise guests and there were not announced at all! So, I got to go over and hang out and sit down for a while and shoot the shit. So, in Newport fest they have one indoor stage with a very limited capacity so I got to watch all 3 of them do solo acoustic sets which was mind-blowing. Then found out the next day that they were playing a real set on stage with some friends of mine as a backing band. So one of the guys that were involved was like “Hey man, you ought to get up with Terry and do ‘Amarillo Highway’ since you did it yesterday on your stage” I was really nervous about it, I went into Terry’s dressing room and was like “Hey man, I’m JP” and told him the funny story about playing his song and not knowing he was going to be there and he got a kick out of it and was like “Yeah, yeah come up on stage with me, lets do it” So, I got to sit backstage and kinda play through the chords a couple of times. It’s been a highlight of my career just to get up there. He’s just an incredible guy, really mellow, soft-spoken, funny anything you’d hoped him to be and expect Terry Allen to be and he is and more so pretty cool. And I don’t want to spoil the surprise but you’re going to hear it again tonight.
CiTUK: Wow! what a story! Now, congrats on your recent release, ‘Sometimes Dogs at Nothing,’ how does it feel coming back after a 4 year hiatus?
JP Harris: It feels pretty good actually because I’ve been sort of laying low back in the states in the last 3 years, we still been fairly active just by the nature that I have an established music career but compared to a bunch of the previous years where I’d been touring a 100, 150 shows a year we were paired down to do 20 to 30 US shows the most. So I put out my last record [Home is Where the Hurt is] and did not know what my expectations were exactly but I know there were not met. I kinda crashed down back to earth a little bit after that record, came out feeling like I should’ve gotten further ahead with it or something. I don’t know, it was well received but I think I was a little naive in believing that is was sort of like that was my next big break the next album I was doing. Then, I realized very soon after it came out, what I needed to do was take a step back from this sort of what I think of it a constant forward stumbling motion in my music career, always kind of bumbling from next thing to the next thing, not having any direction or anything. So, we come to a time to focus on touring Europe more, so we’re actually playing more European dates then we were US dates in the last 3 years. And the record itself [Sometimes Dogs Bark Nothing] coalesced really nicely, everything kinda came together this whole tour had been booked before the record was done but we didn’t know how it was coming out and release date or anything like that. So, the fact it synced up to come out right before we came over here was sort of like cosmically made, it was meant to be and some patience and letting some time elapse too. Just let things play themselves in their natural order. I think it was all paid off. So, it’s nice to come back properly. Our last record has been out 6 months [Hurst is Where the Home is] before we came over here but we really didn’t have much of a team of any sorts, we had some minor distribution over here. But it was much smaller operation trying launch the whole thing. So, we were playing a word of mouth crowd and I feel like ever since we landed here we were seeing a massive piece of press. One of the big Dutch national newspaper, some of the German radio stations and media outlets have been given us huge coverage. So, it was all synced up a lot more clearly. it feels good and it’s our first time back since my last record was pretty new to the UK. So, it feels like, Ok I went home, regrouped a little and now I’m coming back to kick your ass! It’ll be a friendly ass kicking though.
CiTUK: Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing deals with many themes and emotions as you mentioned, from heartache, pain and dark paths. At its release, you shared a statement over on Instagram about your experience and being vulnerable. In Songs, like I only Drink Alone- When I Quit Drinking among others- were personal but one that caught my attention most was Lady in the Spotlight can you tell us more about the song?
JP Harris: That one is especially pointed. I feel like I have to do a lot of explaining for that song and I have a personal desire to do so. I think at first listening to the song can be misconstrued sort of to the similar fashion out there. There’s a whole slew of country songs that are very written from the standpoint of a heartless, male drifter who uses women and moves on and I wanted to make sure and so I’ve been vocal about the meaning of this song that no one took the impression of the story to be that which it is, in fact, the opposite. Really, I’ve never written songs that I think of being political beyond the basic human condition but this one was very much. There’s a situation ongoing obviously with gender and inequality in the world and as a country musician I feel like my music serves as a middle ground for people from across the political and social spectrum, and this is something I like about country music and at the same time finding the balance between expressing my political viewpoints and not alienating people. It’s a very tricky balance, I think, the one that should be agreed upon by anyone from across the borders affected that there is a stark contrast in the advantage of men having over a woman. In the entertainment business in the art world, I would’ve expected when I got started that there would be more progressive mindset and we wouldn’t have as many as these issues that deal with day to day that society does. So, as I got more involved in it I started to see, even though luckily in the independent business somewhat less relevant it seems still a little bit twisted, with patriarchal infrastructure in place at the top level of the music industry even all the way down the independent music world. A whole load of shitty dudes who run the industry the way they want to. To the advantage they want to and that women who don’t fit into the conventional bullshit molds of beauty standards or what their bodies should look like, the subject they should sing or talk about. They, by no means given a fair chance in advancing no matter how talented they are! and I’ve seen at the same time women who maybe do fit in that cover girl format a little better allowed into a certain point and then faced with this decision of how they advance their career and without going into too much gory details.. It’s just sad story that plays out over and over still today and has for years from acting to modeling to music to everything and for me painting a little bit of vitriol picture, maybe like it will at least in some regard open a dialogue in peoples own mind about maybe what part they are playing. Its bullshit, it's like its still 1955 it's unbelievable especially in the art world. Even from a sonic standpoint, it’s probably one of my favorite song of the record because it’s the most unconventional. The arrangement, the instrumentals. I had no idea how it was going to sound like when we went into the studio and then there was a really cool meshing of ideas, there’s no drums, there’s no bass, there’s no pedal steel it's 4 acoustic guitars and a weird 70’s synthesizer. It’s a pretty cool weird song.
CiTUK: When coming in the studio, you had a rather interesting approach when recording the album you said “Take five days to think about these songs. Please write notes of whatever ideas come to mind. Please don’t talk to each other about it. Let’s all just get in the studio on day one and compare notes as we go.” why is that?
JP Harris: That was basically it! I mean, I had been very hands on with my previous 2 records. I technically produced them both. Though the engineers on both records had a big hand in it, I always try to credit them with that. But, I was kind of controlling and obsessive over all these little details and I would go into the studio with the bones of the song pretty much mapped out in a very rigid structure in my mind and I didn’t want to vary from those ideas, what the songs needed to sound like and I kind of strong armed everyone to fit into that musically and everyone was happy to do so, and it made cool songs and cool recordings. Kind of keeping my ideas of being a little more laid back with my career in general and sort of letting things take their natural course, I just wanted to try something different and I knew i had a killer bunch of musicians and a great producer and engineer and I knew that the songs were good and of course at any moment something was going of course in any direction I was not at happy with, I still have the right to step in and say “Guys you better put the brakes this is bullshit, this isn't working out, it sounds dumb” but I never had to do that it was great and it helped us avoid anyone coming in with a production efficiency, economic mindset. We came in we had plenty of time to work, we had a huge super comfortable really well equipped studio to work in, close to home, everyone gets to wake up in their own bed, go home to eat dinner with their wifes, buddy or whatever and I think it resulted in a much more spontaneous, creative studio experience for all of us.
CiTUK: Let’s talk childhood a bit, what lead you into country music and what was it about it that attracted you?
JP Harris: Well, that is a funny one that was a long and winding road! because I heard a lot of country music when I was a kid, both of my grandparents listen to it. My folks did not listen to country music so much. For instance my mum listened to a lot of folk music from her day and my dad listened to a lot of southern rock and the classic rock of his day but then when I was 11 or 12 I started listening to punk rock and skateboarding and doing all that shit and for years I only listened to heavy metal. then when I left home and started living in a really rural places, living a completely different life than my upbringing had been, so A by necessity I didn’t have any electricity anywhere I lived so there wasn’t an ability to plug in stacks of guitar amps and shred heavy metal and B, I was hanging around a lot more of salt of the earth travelers type, being around a campfire somewhere and seeing people passing acoustic guitars around and playing folk music or old country. The themes of the stories started making more sense to me and when I eventually settled for a good long stretch in the North East corner of the US I was really far from any major city and living like a pretty old-fashioned, pretty simple lifestyle and it all just made sense to me and then I really didn’t start writing country music until I was properly 23, 24 years old or something like that, I never really thought of myself as a writer of music, I wrote some punk songs when I was a kid, if there are out there I hope I can find them again because they really should resurface, it’s like The Lost Punk Tapes of JP Harris. It’s funny because I just in the last handful of years i reconnected with all the different guys from that old punk band that I haven’t seen in ages, so that would be badass. But anyways, I worked my way into it and I just started writing songs out of frustration with fact-finding current country music for me, I didn’t have internet or anything back then, I didn’t have a cell phone I had a power running water for good sake! I just listened to old recordings obsessively. Piles of tapes in the back of my trunk.. I was just bumped out not able to see country bands then I was like fuck it, I’ll try and write some songs and the rest is kind of history.
CiTUK: With your life on the road, seeking ventures from a young age plus having many titles associated with your name from a carpenter to a sheepherder not to mention an artist too. What has life taught so far?
JP Harris: Oh Lord! That’s a pretty long laundry list. Well, there’s a few basics, it’s something from a young age my mama installed in me was real basic. We didn’t really grow up in a particularly religious household, both of my folks did grow up church going folks but sort of the basic of the golden rule of doing into to others as you have done to yourself. This served as a building block in my life that sort of stuck with me. I know I had to relearn that lesson many times in life. I think that is something I have to wake up and remind myself of everyday. You really don’t know and have no idea what anybody else is going through in the street that you might pass, somebody bumps you in the subway station and you’d be like ‘Fucking asshole watch out!’ that guy’s mum might have just died or his dog might have been run over, he might have been just fired or who knows what. Trying to maintain some sense of human dignity and compassion especially in today’s world is the most important thing that we can walk through life holding onto tightly, and living in a rural place taught me alot about understanding the difference in people, socially and politically. The other most important thing that I’ve learned is that if there’s anything that you want in life, this might sound cliche but you have to work your ass off for it. That doesn’t mean trying really hard for 6 months, doesn’t mean trying hard for a year it means your whole life needs to be committed to getting down the road that you want to get down to and being attached to the outcome is usually useless. Things never work out the way we imagine them to work out at all. I don’t know what I pictured myself doing! Spring of next year will be 10 years since I started my band and started touring with it and I have no idea what I expected 10 years down the road, probably not this. I don’t know if I expected more or less or different what it was. But I got experience a lot of things that I’ve never, never would have had past through my life had I never started playing music. I still work my ass off to be a musician! I mean I just carried all of my gear in here, there’s no guy who does that for me, there’s no one who soundchecks my guitar for me, but there’s never a moment even waking up at some confusing airport somewhere with your bags lost, a day late to go to where you need to go even in the worst of moments. Because, there’s alot, a lot of downsides of being a touring musician I never take it for granted. It’s still worth working very hard and never giving up in what I do because it got me here so..
CiTUK: I was about to ask what piece of advice can you give to our readers but you already answered it above!
JP Harris: Well! Life ain’t fair! You just gotta say fuck it and keep on going.
Thank you JP for taking the time to speak with us and we look forward to another catch up soon.
Sometimes Dog Bark at Nothing album review
In today’s mass-market produced music it’s hard to pinpoint or describe what is 21st Century Country music. With Nashville remaining one of the largest cities to produce Country artists, Music City seemed to have lost its way while time progressed. Sure, it paved way to many celeberted artists such as Willie Nelson, Cindy Walker, Dolly Parton and Waylon Jennings. However, as time went by like a burning candle only the tip remained while the wax kept on burning low. What was then country music is now mass market produced product. In the light of such change, the rise of independent labels, internet and social media introduced hope for individuals who are keen to continue pursuing the true form of ‘Country Music’ while keeping the tradition alive. As a result, the Americana movement took place in which helped shape back what country music was all about when it first began in a form of ‘3 chords and the truth’ all sheltered beneath Umbrella metaphor. Ultimenly, Alabama born JP Harris is one of few musicians to have kept the tradition alive alongside his fellow contemporaries today.
After a 4 year long hiatus, ‘Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing’(Out 05/10) is a set of songs deprived from the songwriters reality, from struggles, modern day love and travel. Born and raised in Alabama, Harris made his voyage into the big world at 8th grade on one late summer's night taking a Greyhound bus bound for somewhere and never looked back. Despite not picturing himself as a full time musician instead a carpenter, Harris is like modern day Huckleberry Finn born for adventure and to play and sing what his heart desires most ‘Country Music’ while possessing multiple titles expanding his ventures in life from a Farm labourer, a Woodsmen to a Shepherd.
The 10 track album opens up with JP’s Florida Blues #1 a synth-full energetic 3 minute piece of southern rock n roll artwork track tells of Harris dazed touring days in Florida with his band ‘The Tough Choices’ meanwhile, ‘Lady in The Spotlight’ is a finger picking tune with a gentle whisper of a voice that shines a light on how gender imbalanced and vulgar the music industry can be towards females. ‘When I Quit Drinking’ the first single of the album depicts a candid inside look into the songwriters drinking days. The close to heart tune showcases Harris quivering vocals in one his personal songs yet!
Other highlights the album features including ‘I Only Drink Alone’ a modern day honky tonk ballad meanwhile ‘Runaway’ begins with a steel pedal in a bittersweet track illustrating a life of a traveling man, a runaway that never knew how to settles down as the chorus goes. “I was born a runaway, leaving comes natural that's what they say, guess I’ve never had the mind to pay to stay in nowhere long”
Working with producer Morgan Jahnig of Old Crow Medicine member Harris recorded demos of his favorite tunes and sent them over with strict instructions “Take five days to think about these songs. Please write notes of whatever ideas come to mind. Please don’t talk to each other about it. Let’s all just get in the studio on day one and compare notes as we go.” hence fulfilling Harris ambition with an unscribted, awe’insparing recording session resulted in unearthing an indescribable original set of songs “We had no pre-production. There were no rehearsals. We basically had a whole studio full of multi-instrumentalists, a six-piece band total, for the whole recording session. Everybody played at least two instruments. It was a really interesting way to do it and I think it helped us avoid anybody, including myself, overthinking the songs.”
In spite of years touring, writing and recording music, Harris hopes for nothing but to inspire others with his simple yet distinctive approach to songcrafting “I’m just hoping that me coming to the table without gimmicks or cool-looking costumes or fancy vintage jeans—just the grubby guy I am with a sleeveless shirt and a pair of boots on—is enough to get people into the music.”
After a 4 year long hiatus, ‘Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing’(Out 05/10) is a set of songs deprived from the songwriters reality, from struggles, modern day love and travel. Born and raised in Alabama, Harris made his voyage into the big world at 8th grade on one late summer's night taking a Greyhound bus bound for somewhere and never looked back. Despite not picturing himself as a full time musician instead a carpenter, Harris is like modern day Huckleberry Finn born for adventure and to play and sing what his heart desires most ‘Country Music’ while possessing multiple titles expanding his ventures in life from a Farm labourer, a Woodsmen to a Shepherd.
The 10 track album opens up with JP’s Florida Blues #1 a synth-full energetic 3 minute piece of southern rock n roll artwork track tells of Harris dazed touring days in Florida with his band ‘The Tough Choices’ meanwhile, ‘Lady in The Spotlight’ is a finger picking tune with a gentle whisper of a voice that shines a light on how gender imbalanced and vulgar the music industry can be towards females. ‘When I Quit Drinking’ the first single of the album depicts a candid inside look into the songwriters drinking days. The close to heart tune showcases Harris quivering vocals in one his personal songs yet!
Other highlights the album features including ‘I Only Drink Alone’ a modern day honky tonk ballad meanwhile ‘Runaway’ begins with a steel pedal in a bittersweet track illustrating a life of a traveling man, a runaway that never knew how to settles down as the chorus goes. “I was born a runaway, leaving comes natural that's what they say, guess I’ve never had the mind to pay to stay in nowhere long”
Working with producer Morgan Jahnig of Old Crow Medicine member Harris recorded demos of his favorite tunes and sent them over with strict instructions “Take five days to think about these songs. Please write notes of whatever ideas come to mind. Please don’t talk to each other about it. Let’s all just get in the studio on day one and compare notes as we go.” hence fulfilling Harris ambition with an unscribted, awe’insparing recording session resulted in unearthing an indescribable original set of songs “We had no pre-production. There were no rehearsals. We basically had a whole studio full of multi-instrumentalists, a six-piece band total, for the whole recording session. Everybody played at least two instruments. It was a really interesting way to do it and I think it helped us avoid anybody, including myself, overthinking the songs.”
In spite of years touring, writing and recording music, Harris hopes for nothing but to inspire others with his simple yet distinctive approach to songcrafting “I’m just hoping that me coming to the table without gimmicks or cool-looking costumes or fancy vintage jeans—just the grubby guy I am with a sleeveless shirt and a pair of boots on—is enough to get people into the music.”
