David Farrell
Justin Rutledge successfully shed his woodpile image as a melancholy singer-songwriter in front of an enthusiastic hometown audience that jammed Toronto’s Lee’s Palace for what can only be described as a full blown love-in this past weekend. Performing songs from three critically acclaimed albums, Saturday night’s concert was largely ringed round new songs from his commercially engaging fourth album, ‘The Early Widows’, released earlier in the week.
Rutledge hit the stage at exactly 11:30 with an all-star band featuring twin drummers and backing vocalist Julia Faber. His half-decade road to critical acclaim, albeit still below-the-radar screen of mainstream success, has been solidly built on a foundation of poetic songs welded to an intoxicating fusion of roots & rock.
The Early Widows builds on his skilful craft as songwriter who’s ambiguous lyrics test an audience’s imagination, but the addition of co-producer Hawksley Workman’s hand in arranging his rootsy sound helps push new ground and vaults a restless voice into the spotlight as a band leader in much the same way ‘Born To Run’ catapulted Springsteen from a small circle of friends to a much larger audience.
It wasn’t all perfect: There were hiccups on stage to begin with as long-time MD David Baxter and Rutledge tripped over each other on stage, but this quickly ceased and evolved into a tight-knit unit with Rutledge taking control of both his band and his audience.
The tension between the erstwhile singer-songwriter and Rutledge’s newfound role as assertive singer fronting a band may not have been evident to everyone on Saturday night, but the approach clearly worked its magic as an audience of devotees became increasingly enthusiastic as the show evolved. Like his mates in Blue Rodeo, Rutledge has built a strong rep on authenticity in an ever stage-managed world of faux idols, imagined heroes and prescribed realities. Unconsciously or not, he avoids lyrical cliques and stock stage-theatrics, instead earning his credits by taking the harder road to acclaim through perseverance and pride of work.
There’s no red carpet treatment with this artist, nor does his audience expect one. Rutledge falls through the cracks when it comes to prizes, but his audience gets him, appreciates him, turns out for his shows and sticks with him when he misses a beat. There’s no built-in hit factor, no Saran-wrapped glamour or Gaga hype. Ben Mulroney wasn’t onstage to make introductions, and Perez Hilton hasn’t hit on him as an imaginary friend. Rutledge is the real deal. An artist that can trip, falter but never fake it. An artist ascending an imaginary ladder that his audience willingly follows.
There’s no Usher, Timberlake or high-powered PR firm to push a product here, thankfully. Just an artist shifting gingerly into his prime. I for one look forward with anticipation to seeing the end of his tour when Rutledge effortlessly pushes his mettle to the floor and the unit he’s controlling torques itself into overdrive.
Opening the concert were fellow Six Shooter artists’ Amelia Curran and Doug Paisley. Both delivered workmanlike performances but failed to silence a restless audience. The former needs to engage more with her audience whereas the latter has yet to find his own persona. Both offer promise but have yet to understand the dynamics necessary to win over a large audience.
