JP Harris & the Tough Choices

OFFICIAL “HIGHWAY ROUTLETTE TOUR” W/ JOE FLETCHER PRESS RELEASE:

spitfire1505 — Tue, 07 May 2013 20:29:35 +0000

What’ll happen will when honky tonk heroes J.P. Harris and Joe Fletcher get in a van with one drummer, one bassist, and one guitarist? Well, J.P. and Joe can’t even answer that one yet. The Highway Roulette, coming this June, is all about spinning the wheel and seeing where the night takes us.

What we do know is you’ll get full band performance from each of these songwriters and plenty of collaborating as well. You’ll do the dancing and drinking and, more than likely, the calling in sick the next day. Whereas Joe has been seen on the road solo a lot this past year, he will be in full glory with backing band, bringing his tales to full and vivid life. And as JP has made a name solely as a loud, electrified honky tonker, this tour features a visitation to his past, throwing in eerie fretless-banjo murder ballads, new and unrecorded material, and some covers you would have never otherwise expected when he is seen with his backing band The Tough Choices. Both men have something unique to bring to the table, so bet on red or black; anywhere the ball stops will be a win.

J.P.’s latest release I’ll Keep Calling was voted Best Country Album of 2012 by The Nashville Scene, is nominated for the Independent Music Awards “Best Country Album” category, and has two of the twelve originals featured on April’s Hollywood release “At Any Price,” featuring Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron. You may have seen him opening for David Allan Coe, The Devil Makes Three, or Brown Bird or simply tearing up your local honky tonk. He has plans for a sophomore recording at home in Nashville later this year.

Joe Fletcher’s White Lighter record (featuring David Lamb and MorganEve Swain of Brown Bird, and John McCauley of Deer Tick, Middle Brother, and Diamond Rugs) soared up the Americana Music Association charts in 2012 earning him his first appearance at The Newport Folk Festival and opening slots for Lucero, Brown Bird, and The Head and The Heart. He’s currently finishing up his third album, You’ve Got the Wrong Man.

May dates, “The Highway Roulette Tour” w/ Joe Fletcher, and more…

spitfire1505 — Fri, 19 Apr 2013 18:04:16 +0000

As the winter loses is frigid grip, the wheels begin to turn again…The Tough Choices hit the road for points west and south May 2, hitting AR, OK, TX, and MS before returning home briefly before their first trip to the upper midwest. Once May wraps up, JP hits the road for something a little different…”The Highway Roulette Tour” with Providence, RI’s acclaimed Joe Fletcher (as seen supporting Brown Bird, The Low Anthem, Lucero, and featured repeatedly at the famed Newport Folk Festival…www.joefletchermusic.com) is a very slight digression from what most have seen over the last 3 or 4 years. Bringing a skeleton-crew band, Harris reaches slightly out of his box to include new, unrecorded material, covers by Towns and Blaze Foley to name a few, and digs into his past to bring his weathered fretless banjo to the stage…unearthing haunting murder tales from the 18th and 19th century, ballads few have seen JP perform in over 5 years. Expect to also see Joe and JP collaborate on this rare pairing of two rising songwriters, a string of shows you should be sure not to miss.

“I’ll Keep Calling” wins “Writer’s Choice: Best Country Album of 2012″…

spitfire1505 — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 22:26:18 +0000

Great news from the frontlines of the war on god-awful country music: This week The Nashville Scene released it’s yearly “Best of Nashville” issue, and J.P. Harris’ “I’ll Keep Calling” tied with the legendary Chuck Mead’s most recent record for the win! Wonderful news for J.P., and even better news for the world of country music at-large; Nashville is a changing city, and a lot of folks here still believe in the old way of doing things, apparently…
Read the blurb here:

http://www.nashvillescene.com/nashville/arts-music-and-culture-writers-choice/Content?oid=3039725

“…and I’ll drive through Hell to get there…”

spitfire1505 — Wed, 20 Jun 2012 04:18:00 +0000

Another day passes, another seedy motel fades in our memory, and J.P. Harris and The Tough Choices plow the pavement again. Having a short respite at the tail-end of May, J.P. and the boys headed out again May 28th, pushing their way down to Texas, and blowing the doors off the Austin Honky Tonks for a week…touring doesn’t relent again until early August, with only a few days in Nashville to change the oil, change their shirts, and wave goodbye again.

J.P.’s debut album “I’ll Keep Calling” has continued climbing the charts, voted #1 again for it’s third consecutive month on the FAR Charts, and holding steady at #1 on Root’s Music Report’s “True Country Top 50″ for it’s 6th consecutive week. Plans for a limited-edition Vinyl release are in the works, slated for later this year; to be released simultaneously with an “I’ll Keep Calling”-themed pinup calendar, featuring some of NYC’s most sultry, salty, and witty burlesque girls on the scene!

As J.P. was overheard saying early one morning outside a Flying J truckstop, when asked where the guys were headed that day:

“I’m going to wherever the next Honky Tonk with cold beer and a PA is…and I’ll drive through Hell to get there…”

mp3s

spitfire1505 — Wed, 09 May 2012 19:11:54 +0000

I’ll Keep Calling

Gear Jammin’ Daddy

Badly Bent

FULL-STEAM AHEAD WITH “I’LL KEEP CALLING”…

spitfire1505 — Tue, 08 May 2012 21:21:21 +0000

Less than two months after the debut album, “I’ll Keep Calling,” was available for download and physical purchase, this soon-to-be classic has began ranking amongst the greats all over the world…including “Top 5 Most-Added” on the AMA charts, #3 on the RFA SpinList, #1 on the FAR charts, and #16 on the EuroAmericana charts. With the help of fans, DJ’s, and fellow musicians, Cow Island Music and J.P. Harris have seen an amazing response so far on this long-awaited debut album of all-original, quintessentially classic Honky Tonk hit-parade.

J.P. and his boys have continued touring relentlessly behind the album, and are looking forward to their returns to Texas and the Southwest in June. Early July will see them criss-crossing the country again, hitting old haunts and new venues alike, and will include great stops such as The Lowell Folk Festival among others. Still blazing the highways daily, old and new fans should keep their eyes on the schedule and see live what many are referring to as “the most authentic original country” they’ve ever heard.

Debut album, “I’ll Keep Calling” now available for pre-order and digital download!

admin — Sun, 04 Mar 2012 23:01:58 +0000

A little something from Cow Island Records:

“In July, JP went into Joel Savoy’s Studio Savoire Faire in Eunice, Louisiana with the rhythm section from the Red Stick Ramblers (Eric Fey on bass and Glenn Fields on drums) along with Asa Brosius on steel guitar and Chris Hartway (the Dixons and the Defibulators) on guitar and recorded what will likely be, one of the best real country albums of the year.

Only 29 years old, JP wrote all twelve songs on the album and sings them in a voice that seems beyond his years, but then, he’s done a lot of living in a short amount of time. I think we’ve found one of the leaders of the next generation of hardcore country music singers…

The album is titled I’ll Keep Calling. We’re currently selling downloads and taking pre-release orders of the CD which includes an instant download. The official release date is May 1, but you’ll have your CD by the end of March. If you’d like to give the album a boost, purchase a copy, we’d sure appreciate it.” Link to Listen/Buy.