Hear the rock band this month during a hometown concert
After a 10-year break, James Justin & Co. released an EP and returned to the Charleston Pour House in April
When James Justin & Co. (aka JJ & Co.) returned to the Charleston Pour House in April—the venue where they built a following for their high-energy, bluegrass-driven songs from 2008 to 2014—the crowd sang along, despite the more than 10 years gap between shows. “I looked out at the crowd and thought, ‘How lucky am I?’” recalls Justin Burke, the band’s leader and songwriter. “It brought so many pages back from that chapter of my life, living on Folly Beach and being part of a scene with Dangermuffin, Cary Ann and Michael [Shovels & Rope], and so many others.”
JJ & Co. drew attention (and guest vocals) from scene luminaries like Ben Bridwell (Band of Horses) across four full-length albums, before dissolving as the band members—Tom Propst, bass; David Vaughan, mandolin; and Bailey Horsley, banjo—joined other projects and started families. Burke and Horsley teamed up with Brock Butler of Perpetual Groove to form Perpetual Grass, an acoustic take on Butler’s music. Burke also recorded three albums with rock band Soul Grind in his hometown of Kilmarnock, Virginia, where he had returned to take over his family’s jewelry store.
The band members’ shift to traditional employment occurred naturally, after covering 20,000 miles on the road with JJ & Co. in 2012 and touring as far as Utah and Texas in 2013 and 2014. “We made a true go of it,” says Burke.
But after scratching his musical itch with his hometown rock band for a decade, Burke felt called back to his acoustic guitar, writing 10 songs last summer. “I’d stayed in touch with everyone in the band, but for some reason we weren’t ready to talk about music,” says Burke. “I called Bailey first—he’s always someone who can lift me up and give me feedback I can count on. Tom is the resounding rock—it makes sense that he plays upright bass—and Dave has the most energy of any human I’ve ever met; of his many skills, speaking through the mandolin, in my opinion, is his best.”
By November, a plan was hatched. The quartet would convene at Ovation Sound in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, to record with producer Bill Stevens. “It was musical boot camp,” says Burke of the first day back in the studio. “We played our instruments for 10 hours straight. I can’t tell you how bad all our fingers hurt.”
The songs were honed to a six-track EP, Make It Blue, telling a story that leans on reflection, introspection, and optimism. “Take Your Aim” summons “the sound of scars and empty bars,” while “Matches,” the album’s radio single, cries, “I’m a scar in the flame,” before, “One last match/meant to live/up to us to keep us open.”
“Everything on this album—every note, every structure—is completely new,” says Burke. “It feels like its own book.”
For Vaughan, the group provides a familiar rhythm that he’s happy to return to. “Of all the bands I play in, this is the one. This is the band that makes me happiest,” he says.
Make It Blue’s opening track, “In Tune,” references calloused hands, underscoring a theme of resilience and renewal. “Dusted off the strings/still glistening through the night,” Burke sings. After releasing the EP and making a run through cities like Asheville and Wilmington, North Carolina, JJ & Co. say they plan to keep in tune for more shows and albums to come.
