Justin Townes Earle keeps himself in the spotlight
Justin Townes Earle recently received a special package in the mail — the cue cards from his January appearance on “The Late Show with David Letterman.”
Earle played “Harlem River Blues,” the infectious title track from his latest record, on the program. It was his first appearance on the show. (A video of the performance, which is worth checking out, is available at justintownesearle.com.)
“I guess they give those cards out as a souvenir,” Earle said during a phone interview. “That was such a treat. It was something I'd always wanted to do, so it was a pretty cool night for me.”
It also served as a sign of the kind of professional run that Earle is on. In 2009, he released “Midnight at the Movies,” an acclaimed record that turned up on many best-of lists for the year. In 2010, GQ Magazine named him one of “The 25 Most Stylish Men in the World,” and near the end of the year he released “Harlem River Blues.” That record also showed up on many best-of lists.
This year, he's touring in support of the record, and he'll be in town for a free show Monday at Millennium Park in Chicago, part of the “Downtown Sound: New Music Mondays” series that runs through late July.
“The tour has really been going great,” he said. “We're getting more people at the shows, and we're stopping at markets that we'd never played before. I'm really happy about how things have gone.”
“Harlem River Blues,” released on Chicago label Bloodshot Records, contains more of Earle's heartfelt, genre-bending alt-country music. The title track chugs forward with a driving beat and a gospel-tinged vocal from Earle. “Move Over Mama” is a propulsive slice of rockabilly that Elvis Presley would have loved. The midtempo and melancholy “Rogers Park,” inspired by the Chicago neighborhood Earle lived in for a short time, starts with a mournful piano solo before drums, keyboards and twangy guitar take hold.
Earle said he was inspired by groups like The Staples Singers and The Carter Family when he made “Harlem.”
“I thought a lot about the way they switched up their styles, moved from genre to genre,” he said. “They started out with straight gospel, than explored all kinds of music, even going to rock 'n' roll. I wanted to capture some of that.”
As usual, Earle was also inspired by literary artists. That's a trait he shares with his father, Steve Earle, who has just released his debut novel, “I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive,” and a record of the same name.
“The song ‘Harlem River Blues,' for example, was inspired by Jim Carroll's book ‘The Basketball Diaries,'” Justin Townes Earle said. “I think one similarity I have with my dad is that I wrote songs as if they're a thesis, with a clear beginning, middle and end.”
Earle, known for his relentless touring schedule, plans to finish up the current tour at the end of the summer. He hopes to begin recording songs for a new record in October.
“I'm writing right now,” he said. “October is the plan, if all goes well. And the plan is that I'll record the songs in a big room with all of us together, like in the old days. Very few overdubs.
“In the meantime, we're really looking forward to the show in Chicago. I haven't played Millennium Park before, but I hear it's beautiful. Nothing beats playing music in a top-notch setting like that.”
<b>Justin Townes Earle (with Andre Williams & the Goldstars)</b>
<b>When:</b> 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 30
<b>Where:</b> Millennium Park, Michigan Avenue and Randolph Street, Chicago
<b>Tickets:</b> Free admission; for information, go to millenniumpark.org