Alabama Singer-Songwriter Early James Evokes Desolation in ‘High Horse’ Video

[Rolling Stone]

Raspy-voiced performer recorded his forthcoming album, ‘Singing for My Supper,’ with Dan Auerbach

ByJON FREEMAN 

Appropriately, for a song about the disappearance of childhood, the video accompanying performer Early James’ “High Horse” is set in a desolate spot: Terlingua, Texas, a largely abandoned mining town near the Rio Grande and Mexico.

In the Tim Hardiman-directed clip, scenes of abandoned structures and rocky, tumbleweed-strewn terrain are interspersed with shots of the Alabama singer-songwriter and his band, the Latest, who perform the song in a studio. James, whose voice has a similar pockmarked, raspy quality and jazzy inflection to early Tom Waits, half-laughs and half-moans about the transformation he’s undergoing: “A favorite dream it seems of just passing the time/Too much nicotine, caffeine, and wine,” he sings.

“The song is a slightly comedic and regretful retrospective on how your childhood goes by so quickly and time changes your wants, needs, and habits,” James says.

“High Horse” appears on James’ forthcoming debut album, Singing for My Supper, which was co-produced by Dan Auerbach and David “Fergie” Ferguson at Auerbach’s Easy Eye Sound studio in Nashville. The album will be released March 13th via Easy Eye Records and Nonesuch, with James going on the road in the first half of the year to support the Lone Bellow, Shovels and Rope, and the Black Keys.

Early James Tour Dates:

February 13 — Athens, GA @ Georgia Theatre *
February 15 — Orlando, FL @ The Social *
February 26 — Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater **
February 27 — Austin, TX @ Scoot Inn **
February 29 — Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater **
March 2 — Kansas City, MO @ Knuckleheads Saloon **
March 4 — Denver, CO @ Bluebird Theater **
March 6 — Salt Lake City, UT @ The Commonwealth Room **
March 7 — Boise, ID @ The Olympic Venue **
March 9 — Vancouver, BC @ Imperial Vancouver **
March 10 — Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theater **
March 11 — Portland, OR @ Revolution Hall **
March 13 — San Francisco, CA @ The Fillmore **
March 14 — Pioneertown, CA @ Pappy & Harriet’s **
April 2 — Minneapolis, MN @ Varsity Theater **
April 3 — Madison, WI @ Majestic Theater **
April 8 — Atlanta, GA @ Variety Playhouse **
April 10 — Saxapahaw, NC @ Haw River Ballroom **
April 14 — Toronto, ON @ The Opera House **
April 15 — Philadelhia, PA @ Union Transfer **
April 16 — Boston, MA @ Paradise Rock Club **
April 17 — New York, NY @ Webster Hall **
May 05 — Halifax, NS @ Halifax Scotiabank Centre ***
May 06 — Moncton, NB @ Avenir Centre ***
May 08 — Montreal, QC @ Bell Centre ***
May 09 — Quebec City, QC @ Centre Videotron ***
May 11 — Ottawa, ON @ Richcraft Live at Canadian Tire Centre ***
May 12 — London, ON @ Budweiser Gardens ***
May 15 — Winnipeg, MB @ Bell MTS Place ***
May 16 — Saskatoon, SK @ Sasktel Centre ***
May 17 — Calgary, AB @ Scotiabank Saddledome ***
May 19 — Edmonton, AB @ Rogers Place ***

* Shovels and Rope
** The Lone Bellow
*** The Black Keys