A couple of months ago, the collective conscience here at Twangville voted Justin Townes Earle’s latest record our album of the year. Â On a chilly night in Santa Cruz, Earle stopped through on a west coast swing of appearances to play at the Rio Theater. Â Dressed in a dark suit and skinny tie, with well combed hair and shiny shoes, his reputation as an irreverent and brutally honest performer briefly seemed to not be borne out. Â The formal appearance illusion was quickly broken when he started in on his stories and music.
Thematically, the evening was sort of split into 3 acts. Â The first featured songs and stories of his family. Â There was They Killed John Henry, dedicated to his grandfather who “managed to put up with the shit of both me and my dad”. Â Mama’s Eyes started with a loving portrayal of his mother and the reach that came with her 6’1″ height, including a single punch that detached his dad’s retina. Â And of course the often quoted story of his father whose sole assessment once when asked about his son was, “that dog’s hard to keep under the porch.”
The middle of the show featured mostly songs about women and the continual thread of relationships that didn’t just go bad, but were glorious in their dysfunction. Â As he noted, though, they produced a lot of good song material. Â One More Night In Brooklyn, Wanderin‘, and Halfway To Jackson were the highlights of this section. Â Plus, Earle gave a less rote and more sincere dedication of Christchurch Woman to the victims of the recent New Zealand quake, a situation that hits close to home in northern California.
The final section of the show featured more stretching out on the musical front, with fiddler Joshua Hedley showing his chops and bass player Bryn Davies setting a new standard for enthusiasm on the stand-up bass. Â The Lightnin’ Hopkins song Bad Gasoline was a favorite here, as well as title tracks Midnight At the Movies and the set-ending Harlem River Blues.
Although far from a new observation, listening and watching a Justin Townes Earle show you’re struck by how incongruous his life and age are when laid next to each other. Â Not yet 30, Earle has a set of life experiences that would be dense on a man twice his age. Â You can’t help but wonder, and hope, that he’s learned a few lessons along the way and not go the way of too many other legendary singer-songwriters whose thirst for the edge took them over it.
About the author: I've actually driven from Tehatchapee to Tonopah. And I've seen Dallas from a DC-9 at night.