Justin
Townes Earle
Justin
Townes Earle is an anomaly. He’s tall as the day is long, all angles and elbows
and a hard stare, both welcoming and deadly serious. He’s Nashville North, all
set up in lower Manhattan now—just like his hero Woody Guthrie, with twang and
charm intact.
That hard working earnestness has paid off, to say the least. Justin won the
Best New and Emerging Artist at the 2009 Americana Music Awards. His record Midnight at the Movies was named one of
the best records of last year by amazon.com, received four stars in Rolling Stone, and found a sweet spot in
the blackened hearts of fans and critics alike. And as if that weren’t enough, GQ named Justin one of the 25
best-dressed men in the world. He also appeared on HBO’s Treme with his dad, troubadour Steve Earle, on whose Grammy
Award–winning Townes record Justin
also guests.
The aforementioned Woody Guthrie once said, “Any fool can make something
complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple.” On Harlem River Blues, Justin chose the simple route. The record’s not
a wall of sound produced to the rafters. It’s rockin’ and reelin’ at times, sweet
and slow at others. Like good fried chicken, a well-cut suit, and a handmade
guitar, there’s heaven to be found in the beautifully crafted simpler things.
Compared
to the much-lauded Midnight at the Movies,
Harlem River Blues is more mature and
increasingly nuanced, while still embracing the raw voice and clean sound of
previous standout tracks like “Mama’s Eyes.” Harlem River Blues kicks off hot with the title track’s choir of
backing singers and electric guitar, slow dances through a decrepit tenement on
“One More Night in Brooklyn,” and swings à la Jerry Lee Lewis on “Move Over
Mama.” “Working for the MTA” is a modern day railway ballad, embracing the
labor movement in classic folksinger style over some heartbreaking pedal steel
from Calexico’s Paul Niehaus. With percussive guitar, killer standup bass lines
by Bryn Davies, and a guest appearance from Jason Isbell, this record hums
along like a 6 train jumpin’ the tracks and heading straight for the Tennessee
state line.
Harlem River Blues straddles not only
the Mason-Dixon, but time itself. As versed in Mance Lipscomb as he is in M.
Ward and sporting Marc Jacobs suspenders, Justin Townes Earle is a man beyond
eras. With Harlem River Blues, a
record that’s perfect for late–Indian summer nights on either the front porch
or fire escape, Justin’s found yet another way to be a timeless original.