Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues

Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues
September 18, 2010
Neil Spencer
guardian.co.uk

he scion of troubadour Steve Earle, and named after doomed country bard Townes Van Zandt, Justin has heritage aplenty. This third album proves his most accomplished yet, a diverse piece of Americana whose songs focus on his new home of New York with a musical lexicon that's thoroughly southern (Earle was raised in Nashville). The title track is borne along by a Baptist choir, "Move Over Mama" is unreconstructed rockabilly, and "Working For the MTA" (NY's railways) is a blue-collar ballad with purring steel guitar. There are echoes of Guthrie and Springsteen, but at 28, Earle's clear, considered voice is clearly his own.