Spring is traditionally a time of re-birth, celebration and freedom from winter’s grip, which also makes it the perfect time for the release of Noah Earle’s third and most impressive album to date, This is the Jubilee, available April 13th on MayApple Records. Each distinct song, abounding in brilliant lyrics and unique melodies, conjures images of renewal and glee, making Jubilee the perfect post-winter antidote. The entire album offers a potpourri of American folk-rock and worldly sounds, all the while procuring intrinsic joy from its listeners, much like Earle does with his infectious smile.
A Midwesterner by birth and at heart, Noah Earle was raised on the meat and potatoes of music, country and country-gospel, which his family served up aplenty at every opportunity. Earle first tried his hand at guitar at age 6 under the guidance of his uncle. “I was too shy to sit in the circle with the grown-ups, so I’d hang out in the corner and follow along quietly with my little nylon-stringed mariachi guitar.” He bolstered his musical skill set through classical training on piano, fiddle and voice until the age of 18, and his musical palate was rounded out by the jazz and blues sounds his father and another uncle played in their own bands over the years.
It’s this natural balance of influences that are all so evident on This is the Jubilee, an album on which Earle freely explores such themes as love and loss, religious intolerance and the end of the world. And he uses this album — this “jubilee” — to celebrate his current station in life, a place in which he’s overjoyed to be. “I stand by my other records and music as being sincere and authentically me, but in some ways I feel like I’m just now finding my own direction,” Earle says, “and it’s really about time.”
Each remarkable song different from the next, Earle’s melodies are sophisticated, and his extraordinary harmonies are quite simply euphonic. His lyrics, entrenched in originality and rooted in acoustic folk, offer a unique look at how Earle looks at life: with an open heart and an adventurous soul, thoughtfully absorbing all that goes on around him. The album’s title track, “Jubilee,” he describes as part love song, part social commentary and all about celebration and freedom. While “Awaken Me” was a last-minute addition to the album, it’s a standout, offering a world-music vibe and a retrospective look at his entry into the world and his hopes for moving through life “awakened.” “That was my intention with Jubilee,” he explains. “I wanted the earnest joy and clarity that I feel at this time in my life, musically and otherwise, to come through in the music.” And if that was his mission, it’s one that has whole-heartedly been accomplished.
This is the Jubilee was self-produced by Earle, and the final product was a collaborative effort involving such notable names as Pete Szkolka on engineering, and Brad Sarno who edited and mixed the album. Astonishingly — and with the magic of technology — the album was put together in six different cities across the United States, a fact that Earle also attributes to the dedication of the many people who made This is the Jubilee flawless. “I wanted so many people to be a part of this record who I could never have gotten into one room,” Earle says, “and thanks to the wonders of technology and a few good ears, we were able to get them all on there and still make it sound human.”
Creating such a seamless album from so many different locations is a feat in itself, but perfecting on the successes of Earle’s first two releases — 2007 ‘s Postcards From Home (also on MayApple Records) and the self-produced Six Ways to Sunday in 2004 — is equally impressive. Yet, he did it. This spring, awaken your ears to the sounds of This is the Jubilee, an album that carries an unmistakable message that life is worth living and welcomes Earle’s arrival into his own as both a prolific songwriter and musician.
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“This Is The Jubilee captures Noah Earle doing everything right. Breathtaking guitar chops, disarming songs and that slippery, deadly accurate voice.” – Jonathan Byrd
“Earle’s music seems both brand new and the logical conclusion of a personal singer songwriter tradition.” – The Portland Oregonian
“I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” – Kelly Knauer, Ozarks Mountaineer & Time Life Books
“I don’t remember ever being impacted by a songwriter the way I was with Noah Earle.” – Freddy Celis, Rootstime
Upcoming Tour Dates:
4/10/2010 – Columbia, MO – The Blue Note
4/23/2010 – Springfield, IL – Bar None
4/30/2010 – St. Louis, MO – The Focal Point
5/22/2010 – Boonville, MO – Missouri Life Festival
5/23/2010 – Ste. Genevieve, MO – Charleville Winery
5/29/2010 – Cobden, IL – Starview Vineyard
6/04/2010 – Springfield, MO – Lindberg’s
6/05/2010 – Columbia, MO – Cooper’s Landing
7/17/2010 – Rocheport, MO – Les Bourgeois Winery A-Frame
Noah Earle’s MySpace
Noah Earle’s Website
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