Archive for the ‘The Early Widows’ Category
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Polaris Prize Long List
Justin’s Early Widows is included in the impressive list of 40 Canadian albums that made the Polaris Prize Long List. The Short List announcement takes place on July 6th, 2010.
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Justin and Ondaatje a Natural Pairing (thespec.com)
Justin the book-lover and Michael Ondaatje the music-lover: a match made in collaboration heaven. Justin speaks about how he and the Canadian literary giant ended up working on each others’ projects and how most of the songs penned for Ondaatje’s play became part of The Early Widows.
“He’s an interesting guy and a big music fan. I want to talk to him about books and he wants to talk to me about music. It’s kind of that back-and-forth thing”
Click here to read Graham Rockingham of the Hamilton Spectator’s interview with Justin.
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Ondaatje Adds Songwriter to the Resume (Macleans)
Justin talks about the editing and arranging skills of Michael Ondaatje, who co-wrote several songs on The Early Widows.
“I brought some lyric sheets to his place and played him the songs,” says Rutledge. “He acted almost like an arranger, an editor. He saw the words on the page and would say ‘What about moving this there?’ or ‘What about trading these lines?’ ” Ninety minutes and a couple of cups of homemade cocoa later, Ondaatje had made suggestions on five songs, and co-written another, On The Russian River, 1849, from scratch.
Read Macleans’ full page feature on Justin and Michael Ondaatje here.
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“An adoring public suits Justin well.” (Globe and Mail)
Brad Wheeler reviews Justin’s sold out performance at Lee’s Palace on May 8th, 2010. “[Justin] and his fans appreciate sweet sorrow, sharing it like the best Boston cream pie.” He goes on to describe how even with a bolder sound, Rutledge is able to retain the reflective and wistful nature of his material and “find sweetness in the sorrows.” Read the entire concert review here
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“It’s not a Newport Moment” (Spinner.ca)
Says Justin in reference to his Bob Dylan-esque switch from acoustic to electric guitar on The Early Widows. “I [just] felt I was getting itchy with the ‘singer/songwriter’ status.” Searching for a new environment for his music, Justin enlisted friend and musician Hawksley Workman to produce the new record. And with that collaboration came quite a drastic sonic change with the addition of the electric guitar.
During the writing of The Early Widows, Justin asked his Facebook fans for input and Canadian literary gem Michael Ondaatje for his poetic eye. Read more about the process behind Justin’s new record.
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4 Stars (Ottawa Citizen)
The Early Widows earns high marks from The Ottawa Citizen, who cite “a major sonic boost” from producer Hawksley Workman, “a more robust context [that] amplifies Rutledge’s stoic sensibility,” and “soaring feeling choruses reminiscent of Bob Dylan’s 1978 album Street Legal. More here
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4 Stars (Chartattack)
Kate Harper of Chartattack writes that Hawksley “helped reinvigorate Rutledge’s sound and made him more adventurous.” And goes on to describe how electrified, choir-infused tracks and “Beatles-eque” sounds spiced up Justin’s alt. country tunes. Read the review here
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4 Stars (Eye Weekly)
Writer Mira Seraf describes Justin’s Early Widows as a, “…powerful fusion of alt.country and literature.” -
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Order Online: The Early Widows
The Early Widows
Release Date May 4, 2010.
CD Sale HERE
At the mouth of the open sea, there are three ships on the horizon one of them is on fire. Black plumes of smoke rise from its charring masts like a mountain’s shadow across the dawn. Perhaps those on board are tossing their lean prayers to the wind like holy matchsticks before thrusting their bodies overboard into the furiously silent ocean. Perhaps several hundred miles away a girl brushes a lock of hair from her eyes as she regards the indolent waters. Perhaps she turns, slowly making her way back to a house where the windows are always broken, away from a blackening horizon, towards the hurt of a dawn through a curtain. These are The Early Widows.
