New York, NY (Top40 Charts) Steve Earle & The
Dukes have released J.T. This marks Steve's 20th studio album, and is a tribute to Steve's late son, Justin Townes Earle, who would have turned 39 years old today. On the album, they cover ten songs from Justin's discography, and finish with Steve's heartfelt tribute, "Last Words." They will be performing "Harlem River Blues," from the album, on Jimmy Kimmel Live! this Thursday, January 7.
Prior to the full album's release, Steve released just two tracks, "Harlem River Blues" and "Champagne Corolla," the former of which has seen success at Americana radio, notably being #1 most added the week of November 30th. The two tracks have both been praised by the press, with "Harlem River Blues" being dubbed an "energetic country-rock ramble" by Stereogum, while Billboard said that on "Champagne Corolla,"
Steve Earle & The
Dukes "imbue the song with the perfect blend of barroom rock and blues... Earle's affection for the song - and his son - shine through on this pearl." Steve recently spoke with The New York Times about the importance of making J.T. for his late son.
100% of the artist advances and royalties from J.T. will be donated to a trust for Etta St.
James Earle, the three-year-old daughter of Justin and Jenn Earle. CD and vinyl editions of the album will be released on March 19 of this year.
Steve Earle is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, he quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash,
Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders, and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his debut record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre.
Subsequent releases like The Revolution Starts...Now (2004), Washington
Square Serenade (2007), and TOWNES (2009) received consecutive GRAMMY® Awards. Restlessly creative across artistic disciplines, Earle has published both a novel and collection of short stories; produced albums for other artists such as Joan Baez and
Lucinda Williams and acted in films, television (including
David Simon's acclaimed The Wire), and on the stage. He currently hosts a radio show for
Sirius XM. In 2009, Earle appeared in the off-Broadway play Samara, for which he also wrote a score that The New York Times described as "exquisitely subliminal."
Recently, Earle wrote music for and appeared in Coal Country, a riveting public theater play that dives into the most-deadly mining disaster in U.S. history.
Ghosts of West Virginia, his 20th studio album, was named as one of "The 50 Best Albums of 2020 So Far" by Rolling Stone. Mr. Earle was recently (Nov 2020) inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
