Venue: Tractor Tavern - Seattle, WA
Date: Saturday, March 22, 2008
The Bottom Line
I'm just going to cut to the chase.With a name like Justin Townes Earle (son of Steve Earle, named for Townes Van Zandt), the bar was set kind of high. There's a certain expectation for the son of one of America's great protest singer-songwriters/alt-country artists. Needless to say, Justin Townes Earle delivered on all fronts.
Sandwiched, this night, between a local opener and the Felice Brothers, JTE hit the stage around 10:30 PM, decked out in smooth Nashvillian garb from slicked back hair to snake skin boots. He welcomed the crowd with a confident, resounding hello, and wasted no time in getting to his opening number.
The Good Life and Highlights
Backed by Corey Younts on mandolin, Earle hit song after song of good old school, classic folk-country. Hank Williams would've been proud, so would Earle's namesake. He ably ripped through a tune by Van Zandt's biggest hero, Lightning Hopkins, before returning to his own impeccable repertoire—pulled mostly from his recent release, The Good Life (due out Mar. 25, 2008).It's near impossible to pick the stand-out tunes from the night, as Earle's butter-like voice and the tight terrain of his melodies shone through each performance. But, "Hard Livin," "The Good Life," and "What Do You Do When You're Lonesome" were among the crowd favorites.
While Earle's showmanship and stellar songwriting stood center stage for much of the hour-long set, Younts displayed great dexterity, switching seamlessly from mandolin to banjo to harmonica. Together, the pair covered all aspects of the songs so that there was never a moment of wishing some other instrument were there to fill a gap in style or energy. In other words, it was a really great show, and you're missing out if you skip JTE when he comes to your town.
Justin Townes Earle is on tour now. For a full list of tour dates and more info, visit the Justin Townes Earle Web site.
