Justin Rutledge’s fifth studio album, Valleyheart, was originally released by Outside Music on February 12, 2013. It went on to win both the JUNO Award for Roots/Traditional Album of the Year and the Canadian Folk Music Award for Contemporary Album of the Year. Outside Music is proud to mark the 10th Anniversary of Valleyheart with a limited edition pressing on Whitecap coloured vinyl. This is Valleyheart's vinyl debut, having never been pressed on LP before. From the original sales notes: The quiet songwriter returns to his roots with a stately collection of spacious songs featuring Rutledge’s trademark poetic lyrics. “I wanted to write songs the way I look at old photographs,” the singer says. “Valleyheart is, at the core, an album about translating memory.” The album is spare in its arrangements, and at times, achingly slow. “At this point in my career, I understand that my strength lies in writing songs that don’t exceed the speed limit,” jokes Rutledge. Valleyheart was recorded in Toronto with Rutledge’s veteran backing band, featuring his best friend Bazil Donovan (Blue Rodeo) on bass, and mixed in Los Angeles by Dan Burns (Puscifer, Chuck Prophet). Rutledge has increasingly been spending more time in California, writing and recording with his band, Early Winters. “Travel is a major theme on Valleyheart,” says Rutledge. “It is perhaps my most ‘Canadian’ album to date, even though it is heavily influenced by California.”
