Josh T. Pearson

Hairyamp Promotions are set to bring an industrious year to an end in style when American singer-songwriter Josh T. Pearson will perform in the intimate and unique setting of the church of St Mary Magdalene in Valletta.

Pearson’s stunning 2011 master- work Last Of The Country Gentlemen was ranked as one of Uncut Magazine’s 50 Greatest Singer-Songwriter Albums of all Time and made almost every notable end-of-year list. He is renowned for playing unorthodox and atypical venues and the 16th-century church will create the perfect ambience for such a concert.

Originally from Texas, Pearson formed the short-lived phenomenon that was Lift to Experience. The band released one sprawling masterpiece: 2001’s The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads, before splitting up soon after. They were so revered by the BBC’s John Peel, that he had them record three sessions in five months... sessions which were later included in the Best 125 Peel Sessions of all time.

Pearson describes the years that followed Lift to Experience’s dissolution as “a period of soul-searching’’ and it would take some 10 years until he finally released his first solo album Last of the Country Gentlemen.

Pearson’s debut solo album is a collection of seven songs drawn from the lessons of what he describes as “a rough year”... songs that are personal, powerful, painful... songs that move with their honesty, that offer hope from the trials he’s suffered and survived.

The critical acclaim surrounding the album’s release was quite astonishing. Clash Music wrote, “Pearson’s mournful growl and the brutal honesty in raking over his personal failings, makes for a majestic, in-the-dead-of-the-night confessional”. The Line of Best Fit described it as “one of the greatest and most compelling albums to emerge this decade so far.”

The Evening Standard described Last of the Country Gentlemen as “a melancholic masterpiece”, while the BBC called it “a raw and white-knuckled collection, one which captures the phenomenal emotions of the man’s solo live sets”.

The album was named Rough Trade‘s Album of the Year 2011 and nominated in two categories, Best Album and Breakthrough Act at the 2011 Mojo Awards. Uncut placed the album at number five, while Mojo ranked it number seven, Rolling Stone number 33 and Q number 42 in their Top 50 Albums of 2011.

Josh T. Pearson performs on November 22 at the church of St Mary Magdalene, Valletta. Robert Farrugia Flores from Plato’s Dream Machine will open the performance with a solo acoustic set. Doors open at 7.30pm. Tickets are available online.

www.ticketline.com.mt