Justin Townes Earle at Joe's Pub

"Like the late Van Zandt, Earle uses a base of acoustic blues and prewar folk to build his own brand of American roots music."
-Nashville Scene

With Justin Townes Earle’s pedigree come mixed blessings. As the son of legendary singer/songwriter Steve Earle, high expectations are the name of the game, and he’s shown that he is up to the task on The Good Life, crafting stark portraits and narrative tales with elements of blues, classic country and rock n’roll. A modern-day troubadour, Earle blends genres seamlessly, framing his songs in warm musical settings and creating tunes that could easily be mistaken for classics.  Justin Townes Earle is 25 years old and his age belies his experience. Growing up in Nashville he mis-spent his youth playing in bluegrass/ragtime combo The Swindlers and the louder, more rocking The Distributors and developing some very bad habits. During tours as guitarist and keyboardist (“…and not a very good one,” laughs Earle) in his father’s band, his problems became untenable and he was fired. Ultimately he cleaned up his act, dropped his self-destructive habits and began to focus on songcraft.   With inspirations as diverse as Townes Van Zandt (he was named in honor of the elder Earle’s hero), Jimmy Reed, Kurt Cobain, The Replacements, Ray Charles and The Pogues, Justin forged his own brand of American roots music. The Good Life melds the qualities of a short story with the lyrical acuity of excellent songs, celebrating grand southern traditions and blowing a fresh breeze across the musical gardens and dive bars of Nashville.