A couple of weeks ago, Steve Earle brought his band the Dukes and Duchesses, to the Paramount Theater in Austin for a magical almost three hour long show.  I have to say I am really excited for Steve with this configuration, presenting an amazing array of material.  After all, he has been at it for decades now, starting out as a songwriter, and then finding the spotlight on his own with Guitar Town in 1986.  I love that in his career, he segues from folk to bluegrass, to rock, to edgy; and in this new show, he brings it all.  There is a warmth and an ease in the collaborative effort. Though Steve has mellowed some, you still feel the fire, and the politics are as matter of fact as ever.  I think this might have been the best Steve Earle show I have ever seen, made so by his wife Allison, and the Mastersons, Chris and his wife Eleanor Whitmore.  BTW, they were featured in Music Fog’s Bonnie Whitmore video.

During the set, Steve shares stories. That night he told one about teaching his then teenaged son Justin Townes Earle a lesson.  I am so impressed with Justin Townes Earle, who is developing into a tour de force on his own.  Yeah, sure, there are always the genetics, but Justin stands on his own merits, with his own sound and his own sensibility, actually very different from his dad.

 In 2009, Justin picked up the Americana Honors New and Emerging Artist Award. He is up for two Americana Honors this year,  for Album Of The Year and Song Of The Year for the “Harlem River Blues,” the title track from his latest album. There is a tasty new video for "Slippin' and Slidin', from the new album and  produced by Joshua Black Wilkins.  This is crooner stuff, soulful and sexy.  Justin is touring England now, and is back in the States at the end of the month for the Newport Folk Festival. Catch up with him here. 

- Jessie Scott