Album Review- Steve Earle - JT

 

I was late to Justin Townes Earle. There’s probably two reasons- neither good. First, I am admittedly resistant to famous children of musicians. A dumb prejudice that I started to break with Harper Simon. Second, I was expecting JT to be similar to his dad. 

He couldn’t be more different. Both are definitely “alt country” but different styles completely. Whereas Steve came through Nashville radio and trailblazers a genre created by Willie Nelson and David Allen Coe, JT inhabited a genre that is closer defined by Whiskeytown and Drive By Truckers, adjacent to musicians like Colter Wall and Hayes Carll and drawing more modern esoteric influences like Tom Waits 

Ironically, JTs music sounds older. He seems to draw from Hank Williams as well as old bluesmen, roots rock and certainly his namesake Townes Van Zandt. 

It is selfish and trivial perhaps to mourn a lost artist and the loss of any potential new art (selfish and trivial compared to the real pain of the family and friends dealing with the loss) but it is also real. 

You can’t really review an album like this. One can and one does, because it’s what we do but critiquing for example, Nick Cave or Mount Eerie’s output seems a bit crass. 

As a Steve Earle fan, having seen him do tributes to Guy Clark and Townes Van Zandt, the JT tribute seems obvious. Of course, you would want it to be under different circumstances (and it’s hard to imagine what those would be without being patronizing to the sons career while it was still on the ascent). 

But we discuss music here, so I’m going to discuss music. JT is a really enjoyable record.  Yes, without a doubt, Steve is a veteran who knows his way around a song, but I think the real hero is Justin who crafted some classic songs. In just little over a decade of recorded music, he was able to write more than a few gems. 

At first listen, the styles of father and son are different and that seems like a strike against the project. 

That impression clears pretty quickly. Maybe it even becomes a strength. The cover of Harlem River Blues sounds like a celebration. The original a descendant of No One Gets Out of This World. Both are deceptively upbeat, but Justin Townes is a folky jaunt worthy of his namesake. Both versions are incredible and timeless. 

The Saint of Lost Causes works well as a traditional country song. The real shame that it was written too late to be covered by Johnny Cash. It is the kind of song that Steve can lean into. Once again, the original exists in this spot that transcends genre. Is it alt country? It could very well be indie. Or appeal to Adult Album Alternative. 

As recounted in the press for Ghosts of West Virginia, the son wrote a John Henry song before the father did. That’s here of course. 

Musically, the album reminds me of Train A Comin. Whether others will hear that, I’m not sure, but that album is a collection of early Steve Earle songs and a few covers. It hangs together as a beginning to end piece, and I think the JT album does too. 

The album ends with the original Last Words. Regardless what you think of Steve, he had reconciled with his son, and this song which recounts their last conversation is raw. It’s a fitting tribute to a lost talent.