Great news for music fans: John-Ross Boyce and His Troubles‘ debut album, “Black Shuck/Old Crow” comes out just two weeks from today! About a month and a half ago I posted the artwork I made for the album, and I’ve just finished making flyers for the release show.

Nearly two years ago I started freelancing full-time, and I’ve worked hard to take on and create projects that I love. My personal credo involves taking on work that I love, because I make better designs and am happier in my life when I’m working with the people and things I’m passionate about. That being said, J.R. and the Troubles are just what freelancing is all about for me. Their sound, songs and shows are deeply affecting, and I probably would have begged to create artwork for them, if they hadn’t asked me about it first.

I really can’t praise this album enough. It’s Tom Waits. Bob Dylan. Norwegian Black Metal. Counting Crows. Johnny Cash. I mean it. The band’s sound is polished to a point and the content of their music proves that J.R is equally fluent in heartache, redemption, and the medicinal properties of a solid melody.

A lot of my work has dark undertones, but it’s not often that I find it appropriate to share anything remotely grim or abrasive. J.R.’s music, however, demands it. His music is a body of sinew and bone and I wanted to address it directly in my pictures. Don’t get me wrong—the music is playful, but with an edge. A playground laced with shards of glass and barbed wire. It’s been a pleasure to work on a project with so much intellect and hard-won experience behind it and I have John-Ross Boyce and His Troubles to thank for it.

You can check out John-Ross Boyce and His Troubles for more info on the band and their upcoming debut album, "Black Shuck/Old Crow." You can get a taste for the Troubles here:

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