Justin Rutledge

Starts: Friday, October 22 8:30 PM

Ends: Friday, October 22 11:30 PM

Doors at 7:30 pm.

“This isn't airport or beach reading; it's a serious work that will reward your close scrutiny.” - Exclaim!

For the first time since its release, audiences in Edmonton will have a chance to hear the songs from The Early Widows (Six Shooter Records), the new album from Justin Rutledge, “[Canada’s] most literate songsmith” (Exclaim). Foundation Concerts presents Justin Friday, October 22nd at Edmonton’s Haven Social Club. Hailed by critics as his best album yet, The Early Widows drew emphatic praise from the National Post, Globe and Mail, Maclean’s, and others. “It’s the biggest statement of his career,” writes Toronto’s Now Magazine. “Unlike the sparseness of his previous albums, the arrangements have been beefed up to match the weightiness of the words.”

The Early Widows, included in the Polaris Long List, came out of a fruitful collaboration with renowned Canadian author Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient), who even scored a co-writing credit on the opening track “Be A Man.” This soliloquy-esque song sets the mood for an album of poetic and dramatic songs backed by a stronger, more amped-up band than ever heard before on a Justin Rutledge offering. With producer Hawksley Workman at the helm, Justin Rutledge’s album brings powerful gospel choirs, double drums and a change in mood catalyzed by the switch from acoustic to electric guitar. “Workman’s input — which began with a simple command: “Put down your acoustic, pick up your electric” — has ushered in the arrival of a noticeably less sleepy and insular Justin Rutledge on The Early Widows” (Toronto Star).

From urban escapism to the civil rights movement in Montgomery, Alabama, The Early Widows travels from inner city to imagined horizons. Justin Rutledge is known for crafting lyrics that create worlds rich with symbolism, and The Early Widows delivers.

Performing: Justin Rutledge
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 ...

 

Event Location

Haven Social Club
15120A Stony Plain Rd
Edmonton, Alberta
T5P 3Y3