RIP Justine Covault

"Hi, Justine, Again, what a nice single by this band, cheers, Wout". A typical email that I sent regularly on Sunday's to Justine Covault announcing that I had reviewed yet again a single released by her label Red On Red Records. Recently e.g. 'The Chasm', the single of the new album, 'The Signal Light', her band Justine and The Unclean released only a few days ago. Her answer usually ran something like "Thank you, Wout, much appreciated", sometimes ending with an X.

On Monday morning I realised that I had not received an answer from her to my email of Sunday and then forgot about it. Late Tuesday evening I came back from band practice and found an email from Simone Berk, another good musician from Boston, in my inbox to let me know that Justine had died last week. I do not know how I otherwise would have found out and most likely would have reviewed her album somewhere in the coming week without knowing. Thank you for reaching out, Simone.

Justine and I have never met. Most likely she knows nothing about me, like I do not know anything about her, except her music and the label she started only a few years ago, that is sending so much excellent music into the world. Music that I would most likely never have heard of. She, together with Louis Mansdorf, a.k.a. Malibu Lou, of Rum Bar Records, has opened the Boston music scene for me beyond 100% and still they have managed to surprise me so many times.

It is thanks to Lou that I first heard of Justine's band. Through a string of fantastic singles he released and an EP. The punk attitude of a woman (and band) that obviously wasn't young any more was striking. It is the same for almost all artists Rum Bar and Red on Red release. In my mind, they have an unstoppable urge to share their music with the world, while knowing they will never sell that million copies any more. Something they perhaps dreamed of 30 years ago, a dream that never came true. Somewhere down that line they started playing again (or never stopped) and release music. It simply has to get out of their system. What strikes me, is how good a lot of that music really is. In fact, so good it deserves a huge audience.

My theory came a little closer to truth when I looked for a photo of Justine I could perhaps use here and got a link to her LinkedIn page. I was amazed to read all the other things she has achieved in her life. Things that have little to do with the punkrocker and country singer, yes, both, that also were an important part of her.

Justine will be sorely missed by the Boston music scene. She made that spreading of the music possible for all these musicians, while making music herself in at least two bands, The Unclean and Justine's Black Threads, both baring her name up front. To me she was a window to all this great music, that I was allowed to enjoy for free, paying back in time and effort in trying to do right to what I was hearing and share the news.

That final album I still have to listen to. It's on that too huge pile with too little time now that work has finally returned to a normal pre-Covid level. I will though and it will be with a sad heart that I put it on.

Justine and I have never met, but if we had, we could have talked about music for hours, I'm sure. My condolences to her family, friends, fellow musicians and loved-ones. My thoughts are with you. From someone an ocean away, who at best can be called a friend in music.

Wout de Natris

You can listen to and order her music here:

https://justinentheunclean.bandcamp.com/album/the-signal-light