Weekly Artist Profile: Justin Townes Earle

Now that we've gotten this little blog rolling, I've got ideas galore and this is another weekly column I'm going to be starting. Every week, I'll be profiling an artist whom I've been listening to a lot of. My hope is that this column will introduce you to some great new artists or perhaps remind you of an artist you've let slip under the radar. Either way, I hope you enjoy and would love to hear your thoughts on these artists!


I've been on a big time folk kick lately and started looking for new artists to get into. On my adventures through the internet I stumbled upon Justin Townes Earle and was immediately hooked. The first thing that drew me to Earle was his persona; he's tatted all up and down his arms and his swagger oozes James Dean. This outlaw persona undoubtedly comes from a history of drug addiction and as recently as 2010 he was arrested for assault and public drunkenness. But don't be fooled, Earle is not just an image, his music is damn good. His sound is heavily influenced by his upbringing in Nashville, Tennessee. Earle's sound is your typical folk music but with a healthy serving of both country and bluegrass mixed in.

He released his first EP, Yuma, in 2007 and has been nothing short of prolific since. He released his first full length, The Good Life, the next year and his work just keeps getting better. His strongest album from start to finish, 2009's Midnight at the Movies is a great place to start if you're trying to get into Earle. The album is his most poppy effort but never loses sight of his folk roots. Not to mention, it features a phenomenal cover of The Replacements' "Can't Hardly Wait". After the break you can listen to some his tunes and check out some tour dates.