Josh T Pearson @ Liverpool Music Week, 28 Oct
Four years on from his own second coming, Josh T Pearson is launching another resurrection in the unlikely but strangely apt surroundings of Liverpool’s Scandinavian Seamen’s Church.
Surrounded by religious iconography and standing in front of an altar bathed in red light, Pearson certainly looks the part, clad all in white from his Stetson to his cowboy boots – but minus the chest-length beard that defined his last visits to these shores.
A shave isn’t the only change to have befallen this southern dandy in the intervening years since 2011’s stunning solo debut, Last of the Country Gentlemen – for as Pearson admits, the acclaim and touring that came with that album’s release were something of a shock to the reclusive songwriter.
“It’s so nice not to be up here alone,” exclaims Pearson as he introduces fellow Texan, Calvin LeBaron. Dressed identically to Pearson, but all in black, LeBaron appears to act as a convenient crutch for his close friend – but at the same time, he is no mere bit part in proceedings as his and Pearson’s voices soar together on a selection of traditional gospel songs, which form the basis of a new project called ‘Two Witnesses’.
The joy and optimism of these beautiful hymns contrasts sharply with the Pearson of old, and the devastating heartbreak of material from Last of the Country Gentleman like Sweetheart I Ain't Your Christ acts as a caustic reminder of Pearson’s old self when played alongside the likes of What a Day That Will Be, and The Sweet Spirit of the Lord.
“I’m embracing the light rather than the darkness for a change,” Pearson jokes in one of his many rambling but highly entertaining introductions, and it’s true that there is much to enjoy in this new direction. The duo’s stunning harmonies fill the church’s celestial dome with tales of Biblical devotion, and best of all is the pair’s cover of The Louvin’ Brothers’ classic, Satan Is Real, which segues beautifully and rather cleverly into a version of the Velvet Underground’s Jesus.
Even more bizarrely uplifting is hearing Pearson utter the words, “here’s a hit song from the soundtrack of Sister Act 2” – before playing I Will Follow Him.
That tonight’s ramshackle show is clearly a work in practice (“You’re guinea pigs!” he gleefully tells us on more than one occasion) – and perhaps even a stop-gap before Pearson can summon up the pain to write another set of originals – somehow makes this gig all the more special. Praise the lord.