-
Breakfast Club with Justin (CBC Radio 3)
Listen to Justin discuss his latest album The Early Widows, working with Michael Ondaatje and Hawksley Workman, and more all while ordering and eating breakfast.
-
“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
-
“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.
-
Video: Heart of a River
Justin explains the story behind “Heart of a River” and plays an acoustic version of the song. Directed by Scott Cudmore.
-
An “intoxicating fusion of roots and rock” (FYI Music News)
FYI’s David Farrell raves about Justin’s CD release show at Lee’s Palace this past Saturday, his newfound role as a frontman of a band, and compares The Early Widows to Springsteen’s Born to Run. Click here to read more.
-
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
-
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
-
Ondaatje: Justin’s lyrical interior decorator (NOW Toronto)
Read Justin’s description of writing with Michael Ondaatje, “He was like the interior decorator. He said, ‘You’ve got all the furniture there; you just need to arrange it.’ He took a word here, put it there, took another word, put it there and chipped away at it very meticulously.” Click here to listen to audio clips of NOW’s interview with Justin.
-
“a decidedly rarified pedigree” (Toronto Star)
“He really wanted to take the country out of me. But not violently,” Justin says of his experience working with Hawksley Workman on his latest album, The Early Widows. Although Justin had reservations about working with a producer for the first time, this collaboration allowed him to step out of his comfort zone with a different approach and new sounds.
“…letting us in on a poorly kept secret: Rutledge isn’t afraid to rock out a wee bit. Anyone who’s ever seen him join his pals the Beauties onstage for a few tunes at the Dakota Tavern on a Sunday night, of course, knows that the man is quite capable of letting loose onstage”
Read Ben Rayner’s interview here
-
Songwriter and Scribe (Globe and Mail)
Justin lays out how he and Hawksley reconciled what the Post describes as Hawksley’s “brash musicality” and Justin’s minimalist sound:
“Any idea he had, I said let’s try it. And ultimately we found a balance.”
Read the interview describing the writing & collaboration process.
