Son of STEVE EARLE, named in part for TOWNES VAN ZANDT, JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE was probably consigned to a life in American music before he learned to walk. (“I am my father’s son,” he sings in “Mama’s Eyes,” “Never knowing when to shut up.”) Fortunately, Earle the younger is well on his way to equaling the old men.
His debut album The Good Life was a solid debut, not spectacular, but quite enjoyable and leaving plenty of room to grow. The follow-up Midnight at the Movies goes a long way to fulfilling his promise, with more confident writing and an artistic direction that shows clear influence from his mentors without being dominated by them. Earle surveys the various strains of American roots music in less than 35 minutes here, effortless striding through country (“Poor Fool”), confessional introspection (“Mama’s Eyes,” “Someday I’ll Be Forgiven For This”), (“Dirty Rag”), acoustic pop (a cover of the Replacments’ “Can’t Hardly Wait,” with a mandolin carrying the riff), jazzy hokum (“Walk Out,” “What I Mean to You”) and traditionalist folk (“Halfway to Jackson,” “They Killed John Henry”).
If there’s any overriding influence on Earle’s music, it’s less Townes and his dad than it is LOUDON WAINWRIGHT III, who surveys a similar approach to melody and eclecticism. But ultimately Earle is already his own man, navigating a rich ancestry and paying tribute not by tribute, but by virtue of his own singular talents.
http://myspace.com/justintownesearle
http://bloodshotrecords.com
