Justin Townes Earle
Encyclopedia
Justin Townes Earle son of Steve Earle
, stepson of Allison Moorer
, and named for songwriter Townes Van Zandt
is an AMA winning, Americana
musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Earle is signed to Bloodshot Records
and has four released albums from 2007–2010. He currently resides in New York City's East Village
.
-influenced acoustic combo, the Swindlers. Earle spent some time as guitarist and keyboardist for his father's touring band the Dukes, but was fired after a dangerous appetite for drugs began interfering with his performances. Once he came off hard drugs, he began putting a new focus on his music and songwriting.
(March 2008), Historical WSM, South By Southwest
(2008–2010), the historic Beacon Theater (May 2009), Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion (September, 2009), Bonnaroo (2009) Bumbershoot
(2010) and the Bowery Ballroom
(March 2010) with Chicago-based singer/songwriter Joe Pug
. In the summer of 2009, Earle co-billed The Big Surprise Tour with Gillian Welch
and David Rawlings
, Old Crow Medicine Show
, and The Felice Brothers
. In May 2010, he appeared alongside his father in an episode of the HBO television series Treme
.
Earle returned to rehab after he was arrested for battery, public drunkenness, and resisting arrest on September 16, 2010 following a dispute with a concert venue about his pay. He resumed touring on Nov. 26, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Earle contributed a cover of "Maybe Baby
" to the June 2011 tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly
.
JTE plays a Guild F-20 Small body and a 1964 Epiphone Texan rerelease (the same kind of guitar the Beatles
song "Yesterday
" was recorded on).
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain "Steve" Earle is an American singer-songwriter known for his rock and Texas Country as well as his political views. He is also a producer, author, a political activist, and an actor, and has written and directed a play....
, stepson of Allison Moorer
Allison Moorer
Allison Moorer is an American alternative country singer and the younger sister of Shelby Lynne. She signed to MCA Nashville in 1998 and made her debut on the U.S...
, and named for songwriter Townes Van Zandt
Townes Van Zandt
John Townes Van Zandt , best known as Townes Van Zandt, was an American Texas Country-folk music singer-songwriter, performer, and poet...
is an AMA winning, Americana
Americana (music)
Americana is an amalgam of roots musics formed by the confluence of the shared and varied traditions that make up the American musical ethos; specifically those sounds that are merged from folk, country, blues, rhythm and blues, rock and roll and other external influential styles...
musician based in Nashville, Tennessee. Earle is signed to Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records
Bloodshot Records is an independent record label based in Chicago, Illinois which specializes in roots-inflected indie rock, punk blues, and a Chicago brand of outlaw country...
and has four released albums from 2007–2010. He currently resides in New York City's East Village
East Village, Manhattan
The East Village is a neighborhood in the borough of Manhattan in New York City, lying east of Greenwich Village, south of Gramercy and Stuyvesant Town, and north of the Lower East Side...
.
Early life
Justin Townes Earle grew up in South Nashville, Tennessee with his mother, Carol Ann Hunter Earle. Earle began using drugs when he was barely 12 years old, developing a serious addiction by the late 90's. In his teens he began playing and singing with two different Nashville bands, a rock band called the Distributors and a bluegrassBluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a form of American roots music, and a sub-genre of country music. It has mixed roots in Scottish, English, Welsh and Irish traditional music...
-influenced acoustic combo, the Swindlers. Earle spent some time as guitarist and keyboardist for his father's touring band the Dukes, but was fired after a dangerous appetite for drugs began interfering with his performances. Once he came off hard drugs, he began putting a new focus on his music and songwriting.
Musical career
Earle presently tours heavily and played Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival (2008), Grand Ole OpryGrand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music stage concert in Nashville, Tennessee, that has presented the biggest stars of that genre since 1925. It is also among the longest-running broadcasts in history since its beginnings as a one-hour radio "barn dance" on WSM-AM...
(March 2008), Historical WSM, South By Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
(2008–2010), the historic Beacon Theater (May 2009), Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion (September, 2009), Bonnaroo (2009) Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot
Bumbershoot is an annual international music and arts festival held in Seattle, Washington. One of North America's largest such festivals, it takes place every Labor Day weekend at the 74-acre Seattle Center, which was built for the 1962 World's Fair. Seattle Center includes indoor theaters,...
(2010) and the Bowery Ballroom
Bowery Ballroom
The Bowery Ballroom is a music venue in the Bowery section of New York City. The structure, at 6 Delancey Street, was built just before the Stock Market Crash of 1929. It stood vacant until the end of WWII, when it became a high-end retail store. The neighborhood subsequently went into decline...
(March 2010) with Chicago-based singer/songwriter Joe Pug
Joe Pug
Joe Pug is a singer-songwriter from Chicago. He has released two EPs, Nation of Heat and In the Meantime, the latter of which has been made available for free on his website. He has toured extensively since 2008 and has opened for alt-country pioneer Steve Earle, singer-songwriter Josh Ritter and...
. In the summer of 2009, Earle co-billed The Big Surprise Tour with Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch
Gillian Welch is an American singer-songwriter. She performs with her musical partner, guitarist David Rawlings. Their sparse and dark musical style, which combines elements of Appalachian music, Bluegrass, and Americana, is described by The New Yorker as "at once innovative and obliquely...
and David Rawlings
David Rawlings
David Todd Rawlings is a professional guitarist and singer. He is best known as the longtime musical partner of bluegrass singer-songwriter Gillian Welch.David attended the Berklee College of Music and studied with guitar professor Lauren Passarelli....
, Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show
Old Crow Medicine Show is an old-time string band based in Nashville, Tennessee. Their music has been called bluegrass, Americana, and alt-country, in addition to old-time. Along with original songs, the band performs many pre-World War II blues and folk songs...
, and The Felice Brothers
The Felice Brothers
The Felice Brothers are a folk rock/country rock band from Upstate New York founded in 2006.-History:The Felice Brothers got their start as a band playing in the New York City subway,. The sons of a carpenter, they would play together on Sundays at their father's afternoon barbecues...
. In May 2010, he appeared alongside his father in an episode of the HBO television series Treme
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
.
Earle returned to rehab after he was arrested for battery, public drunkenness, and resisting arrest on September 16, 2010 following a dispute with a concert venue about his pay. He resumed touring on Nov. 26, 2010 in Nashville, Tennessee.
Earle contributed a cover of "Maybe Baby
Maybe Baby (song)
"Maybe Baby" was originally recorded by The Crickets in 1957. It was written by Norman Petty and Buddy Holly and reached 17th in the US charts but 4th in the UK charts - see Buddy Holly discography...
" to the June 2011 tribute album Rave On Buddy Holly
Rave on Buddy Holly
Rave On Buddy Holly is a compilation album by various artists released on June 28, 2011 through Fantasy Records/Concord Music Group and Hear Music. The title of the tribute album to musician Buddy Holly, who died in a plane crash in 1959 at age 22, refers to the song "Rave On", one of his biggest...
.
JTE plays a Guild F-20 Small body and a 1964 Epiphone Texan rerelease (the same kind of guitar the Beatles
The Beatles
The Beatles were an English rock band, active throughout the 1960s and one of the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed acts in the history of popular music. Formed in Liverpool, by 1962 the group consisted of John Lennon , Paul McCartney , George Harrison and Ringo Starr...
song "Yesterday
Yesterday (song)
"Yesterday" is a song originally recorded by The Beatles for their 1965 album Help!. The song first hit the United Kingdom top 10 three months after the release of Help!. The song remains popular today with more than 1,600 cover versions, one of the most covered songs in the history of recorded...
" was recorded on).
Awards
In September 2009, Justin Townes Earle received an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist of the Year. He also received 2009 nominations for album of the year (Midnight at the Movies) and for artist of the year. He had been previously nominated for Emerging Artist of the Year in 2008. In 2011, he received the Americana Music Award in the Song of the Year category for his "Harlem River Blues," from the album of the same name.Discography
| Title | Album details | Peak chart positions | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US Country |
US Rock |
US Heat Top Heatseekers Top Heatseekers refers to either of two separate "Breaking and Entering" music charts issued weekly by Billboard Magazine: the Heatseekers Albums chart or the Heatseekers Songs chart. They were introduced by Billboard in 1993 with the purpose of highlighting the sales by new and developing musical... |
US Indie Independent Albums The Billboard Independent Albums is a chart of the highest-selling independent music albums and extended plays in the United States, compiled by Nielsen SoundScan and published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is used to list artists who are not signed to major labels... |
US Folk Folk Albums Folk Albums is a music chart published weekly by Billboard magazine which ranks the top selling "current releases by traditional folk artists, as well as appropriate titles by acoustic-based singer-songwriters" in the United States. The chart debuted on the issue dated December 5, 2009... |
||||
| Yuma |
|
— | — | — | — | — | — | ||
| The Good Life |
|
— | 70 | — | — | — | — | ||
| Midnight at the Movies |
|
— | — | — | 15 | 41 | — | ||
| Harlem River Blues |
|
47 | — | 18 | — | 9 | 3 | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart | |||||||||
External links
- http://www.bloodshotrecords.com/album/good-life
- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89955985
- http://www.nashvillescene.com/2008-03-27/news/the-good-life-from-now-on/
- http://skopemag.com/2008/06/13/justin-towne-earle-wins-an-ama-tour-dates
- http://www.bmi.com/news/entry/536847
- http://folkmusic.about.com/od/awardsetc1/qt/Americana2008.htm
- http://www.groundcontroltouring.com/tour/justintownesearle/
- http://www.cmt.com/artists/az/earle__justin_townes/bio.jhtml
- Justin Townes Earle collection at the Internet ArchiveInternet ArchiveThe Internet Archive is a non-profit digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It offers permanent storage and access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, music, moving images, and nearly 3 million public domain books. The Internet Archive...
's live music archive - http://www.justintownesearle.com/media/music