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Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Like his musical pedigree, the debut release by Justin Townes Earle is a mixed blessing. In Texas songwriting circles, having Steve Earle as a father--who gave him his middle name in commemoration of his creative hero Townes Van Zandt--is the sort of burden that a basketball-playing son of Michael Jordan might carry. Half of these cuts that sound like Lone Star roadhouse ready-mades, dimly remembered from some 1960s jukebox (though all Earle originals.) During this stretch of The Good Life, neither his voice nor his songwriting is strong enough to raise the results above the generic. Yet the folkier intimacy he displays on "Who Am I to Say" and "Turn Out the Lights" shows a singer-songwriter who can really get under the listener's skin when he isn't trying to sing over a band. Saving the best for last, he sounds a little like his dad on "Far Away In Another Town," but he also sounds like an artist coming into his own. --Don McLeese
Product Description
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. "I started out to make an old timey country record, but I listen to so many other kinds of music," Justin explained. "Some of the songs were rearranged on the spot and took on other lives and album is now more of an exploration of southern music." Earle approaches universal topics like traveling and matters of the heart ("Hard Living", "The Good Life") with the same fervor with which he evokes the bleak loneliness of a Civil War soldier on "Lone Pine Hill".
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. Going through life with a namesake of Van Zandt’s stature cannot be easy for a young songwriter, but Earle takes it in stride," saying, "Anyone who tries to live up to Van Zandt is a fool. I’m honored to carry the name, but if I spent my life trying to live up to it, I’d have a pretty miserable life." Likewise, his father’s incredibly acclaimed, prolific career casts a huge shadow, but Justin Townes Earles makes a name for himself by focusing his writing on the personal rather than the political, narrative tales instead of protest. 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.
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Like his musical pedigree, the debut release by Justin Townes Earle is a mixed blessing. In Texas songwriting circles, having Steve Earle as a father--who gave him his middle name in commemoration of his creative hero Townes Van Zandt--is the sort of burden that a basketball-playing son of Michael Jordan might carry. Half of these cuts that sound like Lone Star roadhouse ready-mades, dimly remembered from some 1960s jukebox (though all Earle originals.) During this stretch of The Good Life, neither his voice nor his songwriting is strong enough to raise the results above the generic. Yet the folkier intimacy he displays on "Who Am I to Say" and "Turn Out the Lights" shows a singer-songwriter who can really get under the listener's skin when he isn't trying to sing over a band. Saving the best for last, he sounds a little like his dad on "Far Away In Another Town," but he also sounds like an artist coming into his own. --Don McLeese
Product Description
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. "I started out to make an old timey country record, but I listen to so many other kinds of music," Justin explained. "Some of the songs were rearranged on the spot and took on other lives and album is now more of an exploration of southern music." Earle approaches universal topics like traveling and matters of the heart ("Hard Living", "The Good Life") with the same fervor with which he evokes the bleak loneliness of a Civil War soldier on "Lone Pine Hill".
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. Going through life with a namesake of Van Zandt’s stature cannot be easy for a young songwriter, but Earle takes it in stride," saying, "Anyone who tries to live up to Van Zandt is a fool. I’m honored to carry the name, but if I spent my life trying to live up to it, I’d have a pretty miserable life." Likewise, his father’s incredibly acclaimed, prolific career casts a huge shadow, but Justin Townes Earles makes a name for himself by focusing his writing on the personal rather than the political, narrative tales instead of protest. 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.
Justin Townes Earle Photos
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SoundUnwound Says...
Learn more about The Good Life 
by Justin Townes Earle 
by Justin Townes Earle Go explore the super-connected music universe at SoundUnwound.com - the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
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