JP Harris w/ The Horse Eyed Men at The Stone Church

JP Harris returns to Brattleboro with his full band ready to rock the Stone Church.

J.P. Harris plays Country Music. Not “Americana,” not “Roots,” “Folk,” or any other number of monikers used to describe a slew of spin-off genres; he plays from the foundation of these styles, the music that has influenced four generations of songwriters. In a world where prefixes have been added to the term “Country,” JP simply sticks to the old-fashioned sounds that have called to him. Referencing influences would be like describing each stitch in a quilt; every scrap of fabric tells a story of how the weathered and comfortable blanket came to be…

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 it’s completion, he made the move to Nashville.

JP released his all-original debut “I’ll Keep Calling” in May of 2012 on Cow Island Music. Shortly after it’s release, without the aide of publicists or a large label’s bankroll, it won “Best Country Album of 2012” from The Nashville Scene, the same honor at the Independent Music Awards, a cameo on NPR’s American Routes, and as JP says “a whole mess of other stuff in the papers and on the internet.” (Two songs were also licensed to the soundtrack of 2012’s “At Any Price,” starring Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron.)

His latest album “Home Is Where The Hurt Is” (produced by Harris, guitarist Adam Meisterhans, and engineer Justin Francis) was recorded and mixed at Ronnie’s Place (formerly the personal studio of Ronnie Milsap) at home in Nashville. Lending a hand on the album vocally is friend and local Indie-Country star Nikki Lane, as well as long-time friend Chance McCoy, singer and guitarist of Old Crow Medicine Show.

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

The Horse-Eyed Men are a family band who play original, disgruntled Americana and country music. Raised by musical humans in a former candy store outside of Providence R.I., they have played for years throughout Europe and the U.S. under various monikers: The Cowboy Killers, The Rosewater Ladies, Tik Tok Laboratories, and recently with Spirit Family Reunion. Their music mixes spaghetti-western themes with cabaret, ragtime, and post-partum punk. Their first studio album, Grave Country, was recorded in Copenhagen on a grant from the Danish Arts Council. An EP on Jalopy Records’ Seven Inch Series and a new studio album recorded in Berlin Germany, The Uncanny Valley, are due out in 2018.

Video: https://vimeo.com/126630990

Websites: https://horseeyedmen.com/ // facebook.com/horseeyedmen/ // https://twitter.com/horseyedmen // instagram #horseeyedmen