Justine Townes Earle's performance last night of the title track from his new Bloodshot album, Harlem River Blues, on Letterman, really knocked me out. I happened to be awake at the end of the show when the musical guests always play, and wasn't expecting anything really. It's rare that TV performances translate so well, or even sound good at a low volume at 12:30AM in the dark.
He has certain qualities that, even though I can pretty much pick out where he got them all from, present an entirely believable package thats definitely ready for bigger and better things. And most importantly, he's got the tunes. Good for Bloodshot Records. Anyway, I've been checking out the entire album and it's well worth exploring if you can get down with any sort of americana/rockabilly/roots/country-tinged stuff. This guy has the goods.
p.s. For fans of songs about NYC - check out the title track, "One More Night In Brooklyn", and "Workin' For The MTA".
Buy Harlem River Blues - CD
, MP3
, LP
.
