JP Harris Brings Honkytonk Sounds to Helsinki Hudson

JP Harris

JP Harris

(HUDSON, N.Y.) – Nashville-based JP Harris & the Tough Choices bring their classic country and honkytonk sounds to Club Helsinki Hudson on Friday, July 31, at 9pm. Rolling Stone named JP Harris one of fall 2014’s “Country Tours Not To Miss” as well as one of “21 Must-See Country Acts at SXSW 2015.”

The song titles alone tell half the story of JP Harris: “A Breaking Heart,” “Home Is Where the Hurt Is,” “South Oklahoma,” “Old Love Letters,” “Truckstop Amphetamines,” “Young Women and Old Guitars.” JP Harris is a throwback to the classic country music sounds of Buck Owens, George Jones, Waylon Jennings and Hank Williams. Fiddles and pedal-steel guitar licks dance around his authentic honkytonk vocals as he sings lines like “My breakin’ heart doesn’t make a sound” and “Thought I’d write a song for you/ Retelling all the things we used to do.”

After more than six generations in Alabama, Harris’s family left seeking work, first to California and then on to Nevada. He left home on foot at the age of 14, traveling via thumb and freight train, living the next four years mostly from a backpack, tarp, and a bedroll. Eventually landing in the northeast, he worked as a farm laborer, equipment operator, lumberjack, luthier, and carpenter. It’s no wonder he became a country music singer.

In the summer of 2011, after two years of touring without much in the way of recorded music, Harris made a trip to the sweltering heat of south Louisiana. In an old Cajun cook shack he and a few pals pounded out an album in three days, and shortly after its completion, he moved to Nashville.

JP Harris

JP Harris

Harris released his all-original debut, “I’ll Keep Calling,” in May 2012 on Cow Island Music. Shortly after its release it won Best Country Album of 2012 from the Nashville Scene, the same honor at the Independent Music Awards, and a cameo on NPR’s American Routes. Two songs were also licensed to the soundtrack of 2012’s “At Any Price,” starring Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron.

Harris’s latest album, “Home Is Where the Hurt Is” was recorded and mixed at Ronnie’s Place, formerly the personal studio of Ronnie Milsap, in Nashville.

When he isn’t touring, Harris can usually be found repairing an old house, splitting wood in his backyard, or digging through the trash for usable refuse.

The concert by JP Harris represents Helsinki Hudson’s ongoing commitment to programming emerging and rising talent in a diversity of musical genres.

For reservations in The Restaurant or in the club call 518.828.4800.

 

 

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