Justin Townes Earle — The Good Life

You have a lot to live up to when Steve Earle is your father and your middle name is in honour of Townes Van Zandt. Although only 25, Justin Townes Earle is already a seasoned musician and excellent songwriter. His The Good Life debut is an excellent collection of songs that fits well within the Bloodshot catalogue. But Earle's also picked up other influences. Opener "Hard Livin'" shakes and shuffles along with all the attitude and swagger of Hank Williams III, while the title track contains the same brand of fiddle-inflected roots music found on Justin Rutledge's records. "Who Am I To Say" and "Turn Out My Lights" could easily fit on Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker. That said, none of the tracks on The Good Life are derivative and when Earle belts out "When I walk down the street, everybody knows my name" on the title track, it's prophetic.

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