Country traditionalist JP Harris is hitting the road hard this fall for his Bloodshot Records debut, JP Harris Is A Trash Fire, produced by JD McPherson. Harris is also respected fixture of several scenes around his adopted hometown of Nashville, TN — you can find him working on Nashville's historic homes, riding and fixing old motorcycles, or picking through scrap piles for useable refuse. In a musical landscape of period-correct reproduction, “outlaw” internet posturing, and flavor-of-the-month variants on country, JP Harris Is A Trash Fire burns bright as a dumpster in a Walmart parking lot on a moonless night; some will fear it, some will gravitate to its acrid warmth, and most will have no idea what to make of the situation.
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 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 that 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.
Self-taught in pretty much everything, Harris left his home in Montgomery, AL at age 14, spending most of his teenage years traveling by freight train, thumb, or foot before landing in rural northern New England. It was there Harris honed the many trades he’d learned: sheepherder, logger, heavy equipment operator, farm laborer, restoration carpenter, and sometimes as contraband handler, while his musical palette expanded beyond the punk rock of his youth to include the Early American Folk Canon of blues, old time, and early country recordings.
Moving to Nashville in 2011, Harris 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." With JP Harris Is A Trash Fire, Harris found himself on venerable roots label Bloodshot Records with possibly his finest record to date! The reaction has been enough to have him put down his carpentry tools, trade his carpentry van for a tour vehicle and hit the road with a full band. Trust us, you won't want to miss it.
Watch:
JP HARRIS "House-broke Tiger On a Leach" documentary
Stream/ Purchase JP Harris Is A Trash Fire
JP HARRIS ON TOUR
FR 10/25: Lafayette LA // Blackpot Festival & Cookoff
TH 11/7: Raleigh NC // The Pourhouse
FR 11/8: Lancaster PA // West Art
SA 11/9: Trumansburg NY // Sweet Land Farm
SU 11/10: Brooklyn NY // Skinny Dennis
TU 11/12: Kingston NY // Tubby’s
WE 11/13: Hudson NY // Half Moon
TH 11/14: Gloucester MA // The Cut
SA 11/16: Brattleboro VT // The Stone Church
SU 11/17: Providence RI // Alchemy
TU 11/19: Hagerstown MD // Hub City Vinyl
WE 11/20: Elkton MD // Elkton Music Hall
TH 11/21: Richmond VA // Star Hill Beer Hall
SA 11/23: Floyd VA // Dogtown Roadhouse
SU 11/24: Charlotte NC // The Thirsty Beaver
TH 12/12: Eunice LA // Lakeview Park w/ Kelli Jones and The Cajun Allstars
FR 12/13: Austin TX // Sagebrush
SA 12/14: San Antonio TX // The Lonesome Rose
WE 12/18: Houston TX // Danelectro’s
TH 12/19: Ft. Worth TX // Tulips supporting Greyhounds
SA 12/21: Kansas City MO // Knuckleheads
SU 12/22: Tulsa OK // Mercury Lounge
MO 12/23: Little Rock AR // Whitewater Tavern w/ Dylan Earl
