Photo by Joshua Black Wilkins
Justin Townes Earle has never been shy about sharing his opinion. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with him a few times. While some can find him or his Twitter outbursts to be caustic; I’ve always found him to be charming. If you could levy any complaint on him, it’s that he wears his heart on his sleeve (I’m fairly certain that he doesn’t like the new Nashville). But I’d counter that without that willingness to open himself up, he wouldn’t be the artist we’ve come to love.
Single Mothers is JTE’s fifth release and first with Vagrant Records. After amicably moving on from Bloodshot, Justin ran into some issues with Communion Records trying to dictate how the album would come to be. As someone who’s fiercely dedicated to his craft and also a true lover of the history of music; that was never going to fly. Justin wasn’t shy about sharing those feelings on his entertaining Twitter account.
I’m happy to say that all of his headaches were worth it. Single Mothers continues his movement away from the rockabilly sound to an R&B sound consistent with his last album, Nothing’s Going To Change The Way You Feel About Me. Single Mothers lacks some the horns that really lent to the Memphis Sound. Single Mothers is sort of like Country R&B, if that even make sense.
Songs like the metaphorical Worried About The Weather are balanced with the upbeat My Baby Drives. A good chunk of the album seems reflective of his youth. Wanna Be A Stranger feels like the older (and newly married) JTE is talking to his younger self. Picture In A Drawer & It’s Cold In This House are JTE at his best. Words slipping out of his mouth with nothing but his acoustic and a steel backing him. These are the tracks that will stop a music hall in its tracks
Single Mothers is another statement from one of great American voices of our generation. He is a music traditionalist and a student of his game. And as proved by the last year, he will never compromise his music for the sake of somebody else.
Our 2008 session with Justin can be found here.
Follow me on Twitter at @WoodyHearYa
JTE is here
Joshua Black Wilkins is here
