On The Verge

James Justin & Co.

Folly Beach, S.C.
Southern Son, So Far
www.jamesjustinmusic.com

While traveling home from the Camp Barefoot festival in the West Virginia mountains, James Justin Burke reflects on his roots in a casual, honest drawl. “I’m a Southern man and that’s always been a part of my life,” he says, adding that he named his debut record—released last July— Southern Son, So Far because he never knows what might happen or where he may end up. “Anything can change,” he says. The album blends acoustic Americana with rock and roll, foot-stomping country and slower ballads. And while Burke (guitar, banjo, vocals) brought the songs to the table for the recording, he enlisted childhood friend Bailey Horsley (banjo, harp, vocals) and Tom Propst (upright bass, vocals) to round things out in the live setting with “their own flavors and accents and [make] it special.” Other friends and local musicians also lend their voices to tracks, including Dangermuffin and Band of Horses’ Ben Bridwell, who recorded with Burke after a surf session near his home in Folly Beach, S.C. Although Neil Young is a big influence on his music, Burke says that Horsley describes the group’s nontraditional folksy, roots rock best: “It sounds like Ben Bridwell, Jim James and Scott Avett had sex and had a kid.”