Justin Fabus, a country music performer born and raised in Dormont, has a hard time wrapping his head around the fact that he’ll soon be making tour stops in London. He wants to make a good impression.
“I’m very honored that I got the call, to have the opportunity,” he tells Pittsburgh City Paper before pausing. “I still need to get it right. Is it across the pond [or] over the pond? I don’t want to sound like a jagoff.”
Fabus, who recently released his 4X6 EP, will play Jergel’s Rhythm Grille in Warrendale on Fri., March 28 before embarking on a trip to bring his Pittsburgh-flavored, Rust Belt aesthetic to London.
“That’ll be a cool send-off,” Fabus says.
Fabus, 38, lived most of his life in Pittsburgh. Around 2014, he began spending time in Atlanta, Ga., where he decided to live permanently a few years ago. In addition to his most recent EP, Fabus has two albums, Shelter from the Storm from 2020 and the 2018 release Remedy.
A Pittsburgh upbringing may not be a typical origin story for a country artist, but Fabus says it did influence his music.
“It doesn’t get more blue-collar than Pittsburgh, and country is blue-collar and hard-working, and it has everything that Pittsburgh is,” Fabus says. “And I didn’t get into country music because I wanted to wear a cowboy hat and cowboy boots. Don’t get me wrong, I love cowboy boots, I rock them, and rock a big belt buckle from time to time, but I never got into it so I could write songs about riding a tractor or living on the farm.”
He loves Pittsburgh and playing around his home, but he found that his career outgrew the city. He didn’t want to be perpetually stuck playing covers like many Pittsburgh-area bands.
“It’s a shame, but in Pittsburgh, it’s not a music town,” Fabus says. “There’s a lot of great, original artists of all different genres that don’t get the opportunities that there should be when it comes to original music.”
Many hype up Nashville, Tenn. as the only spot for aspiring country artists to live, which he sees as overrated.
“I know a lot of people that moved to Nashville and literally came back in two or three months and then just gave up the dream and the opportunities and so forth because they just got bewildered from it,” Fabus says. “My opinion, at least, is I’d rather be invited into Nashville.”
As he expands his reach, Fabus continues to make new music. He’s hard at work on a new single but divulged few details, though it seems it will be less of a downer than much of his work.
“The goal of this song is for summer release, so it’s going to have that roll-your-windows-down, turn-it-up-to-10 summer love feel,” Fabus says.
Fabus credits his recent glow-up to the track “7&7,” about his past unhealthy relationship with whiskey and cocaine. He got ready for work after benders drinking Seagram’s 7 and 7UP by snorting cocaine, and the song ended up widely resonating in and outside of the United States, in addition to sparking some online arguments.
In a February video on his Instagram, Fabus, with a smirk, responded to a series of YouTube comments about the song. Some didn’t buy that he’d do this, which he sharply rebuked. One commenter mocked Fabus by speculating he “drinks White Claw in his Stanley Cup,” to which he replied, “Well, I am from Pittsburgh, and that’s five Stanley Cups, you ass clown.”
“I think it’s funny,” Fabus says. “I mean, it’s just the world we live in. There’s more people in this world that want people to fail instead of succeed because, whatever, they’re unhappy in their life or jealous or whatever.”
Fabus promises that anyone seeing a show in Pittsburgh or across the pond in London will have a great time. He has realized that his concerts could be an audience member’s big night out for the month, and he wants it to be worth it.
“I’m never gonna be the best singer, I’m never gonna be the best songwriter or guitar player, but I will outwork anybody every day of the week,” Fabus says. “So, when I go out on stage, it’s gonna be a marathon for two hours-plus. I’m gonna move, I’m gonna shake, I’m gonna jump up and down. It’s gonna be a complete party. I want people to be completely exhausted after my shows.”
The Eldorado Band with Justin Fabus. 8 p.m. Doors at 6 p.m. Fri., March 28. Jergel’s Rhythm Grille. 103 Slade Ln., Warrendale. $10-15. jergels.com/events
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2025.
