Traditional honky-tonker J.P. Harris follows 2014’s Home Is Where the Hurt Is with Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing. Harris was born in Montgomery, Alabama in 1983 and after attending school through the eighth grade, he jumped on a Greyhound and never looked back. He traveled the country, hitchhiking and hopping freight trains while making his living as a farm laborer, shepherd, woodsman, and carpenter, among many other titles. Harris is likened to a modern-day troubadour writing honest songs about his experiences and blue collar life. Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing was produced by Old Crow Medicine Show bassist Morgan Jahnig alongside a handful of Harris’ favorite players to whom he sent acoustic demos and unconventional instructions: “Take five days to think about these songs. Please write notes of whatever ideas come to mind. Please don’t talk to each other about it. Let’s all just get in the studio on day one and compare notes as we go.” This approach culminated in a great album crackles with energy. Album standouts include: the opening track and Southern rocker “JP’s Florida Blues”; the tender “Lady in the Spotlight”; the personal song about struggles with alcohol “When I Quit Drinking”; the part autobiography, part Jimmie Rodgers tribute “Jimmy’s Dead and Gone”; the brooding weeper “Long Ways Back”; and the reflective title-track. JP Harris doesn’t just sing these songs, he lives them and Sometimes Dogs Bark at Nothing gives us a window into his life. All-in-all this is an excellent album. – Written by JFelton
SIMILAR | Sturgill Simpson, Joshua Hedley, Billy Joe Shaver, Western Centuries