Justin Townes Earle's "Yuma" and "The Good Life"

Justin Townes Earle is the son of Steve Earle. He spent a lot of time in various Nashville bands, including his father's touring version of The Dukes, before before beginning his solo career. Like his father, he is a talented artist who has learned a lot from his mentors and struggled with his own demons on his way to crafting his own songs. You can read more about Justin's career in this biography from allmusic.com here.

I first saw Justin when he opened for Jason Isbel in support of his first independently released EP, 2007's Yuma. The song that stuck with me the most was the one that closed the record, "A Desolate Angel's Blues."

Here's Justin and frequent collaborate Cory Younts performing "A Desolate Angel's Blues" on 4/23/08 in Richmond, VA, followed by the track from Yuma.



Justin Townes Earle - A Desolate Angel's Blues

Justin's first full length LP, The Good Life, was released in 2008. This time Justin employed a full band. The results showed a lot of promise of many great things to come. My favorite track from this record was another album closer, "Far Away in Another Town."

Here's Justin and Cory performing "Far Away in Another Town" on 10/11/08 in Chicago, along with the studio track from The Good Life.



Justin Townes Earle - Far Away in Another Town

Everyone should also check out Justin and Cory's excellent four song live session of songs from The Good Life for hearya.com, which you can download here.

I'll leave you with a video my friend John sent me that fits well with the last few posts on this blog. Justin covering two songs from the late great Townes Van Zandt:



Justin recently released a new album, Midnight at the Movies, in March. Look for a post on that record after I've given it a good listen some time soon.

Download Justin Townes Earle's records at emusic.com