Steve Earle & the Dukes
'J.T.'
(New West *** 1/2)
This isn’t Steve Earle’s first tribute to a songwriting hero. In 2009, the Texas troubadour put out "Townes," a mournful paean to Townes Van Zandt. A decade later, he honored Guy Clark with the spirited celebration "Guy."
"J.T." is more poignant. It honors Justin Townes Earle, Earle’s own son, who died of an unintentional drug overdose in August.
Released on Jan. 4 to coincide with what would have been the younger songwriter’s 39th birthday, "J.T." recasts 10 stellar songs from the nine albums Justin Townes Earle released in his lifetime, plus one new Steve Earle original.
J.T. Earle is the rare artist who chose to work in the same idiom as a highly accomplished parent — in this case, storytelling Americana — without any difficulty establishing his own identity or betraying any anxiety of influence. He had his father’s talent and strong will, and like his dad, he struggled with addiction. On “Mama’s Eyes” in 2009, he sang: “I am my father’s son/ We don’t see eye to eye, and I’ll be the first to admit I’ve never tried.”
Later, they reconciled. In "J.T.’s" notes, Steve Earle writes, “I loved Justin Townes Earle more than anything else on this earth.”
Recording the album, he says, “was the only way I knew how to say goodbye.” With his longtime road band, he takes an energetic interpretative approach to his son’s songs, kicking stellar tunes like “Harlem River Blues,” a song about suicide, into high gear, as if taking the time to linger would have been too painful. The closer, Steve Earle’s own “Last Words,” sets the pair’s final conversation to music. It’s a heartbreaker. — Dan DeLuca
