An authentic country-music throw down will take place at the Dolores River Brewery, Saturday night, Oct. 11. Cover is $10, and the show starts at 9 p.m.
JP Harris and the Tough Choices have impressive musical chops and a large following. Their current tour was just named one of the “20 Must See Country Tours” of Fall 2014 by Rolling Stone Country. They are promoting their latest album, Home Is Where The Hurt Is, which features Chance McCoy (Old Crow Medicine Show), Steve Berlin (Los Lobos), and Nikki Lane.
An online bio tells the story of this band. In short, 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.
JP simply sticks to the old-fashioned sounds that have called to him. His Alabama roots shaped his down-to-Earth attitude. On his own at age 14, Harris traveled by freight train to the Northeast where he worked as a farm laborer, equipment operator, lumberjack, luthier, and carpenter.
He taught himself music, and his sincere country style based on life experience began drawing crowds. In summer 2011, he and a group of friends banged out an album in three days in an old Cajun cook house in south Louisiana. Then it was on to Nashville.
“JP is a truly self-made musician,” says his publicist Jake Lanier. “The praise of the crowd mixed with the glow of the stage lights became an intoxicating and overpowering cocktail he can not live without.”
His debut release “I’ll Keep Calling” won Best Country Album of 2012 from The Nashville Scene.
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 usable refuse.