Justin Townes Earle Interview 2011
Justin Townes Earle (January 2011)
At the tender age of 28 Justin Townes Earle – son of Alt-Country legend Steve Earle, step-son of Alison Moorer and nephew of Stacey Earle – has lived a life so full and adventurous it’s a wonder that he’s still alive, let alone winning so many accolades for his most recent release Harlem River Blues that contempories twice his age can only dream of.
Justin or JTE as he is known to his legions of fans was brought up by his mother Carol Ann Hunter and didn’t see a lot of his father until late in his teens; when Steve got involved to help his son get off hard drugs and an alcohol addiction. As he will tell us later this was the ‘wake up call’ that he needed and after messing around with local rock bands he threw himself into making music for a living at the tender age of 14 and signed a deal with Bloodshot Records from Chicago in his early 20’s. He released his first album, Yuma on Bloodshot in February 2007 to great indifference from the record buying public across the World.
The follow up in 2008, The Good Life didn’t fare much better but constant touring across America and a couple of short visits to Europe brought him to the attention of a small but growing set of music fans.
By 2009 JTE was being dismissed as yet another ‘Wannabe Rock Stars’ Child’ but the release of Midnight at the Movies changed all that. With this album Justin showed a great deal of maturity in his song-writing and the reviews in Country, Rock and Roots magazines were generally positive. A couple of songs, Mama’s Eyes and the title track even picked up plays on the more perceptive radio programmes too.
Now officially ‘clean’ of his addictions and still touring relentlessly, the scene was set for the release of his fourth album on Bloodshot Records, Harlem River Blues in September 2010.
The pre-release reviews were universally positive with 5 Star and 10/10 reviews commonplace. Suddenly JTE was an overnight success and the US tour to support the release found him playing increasingly larger halls as the weeks went by until one fateful October night in Indianapolis. All we know is that there was an altercation outside the venue at the end of the concert that ended with JTE being arrested and eventually released on $150 and he re-entered rehab.
The case has still to go to court so I can’t say too much about it here and Justin himself tries to explain what happened later in the interview but can’t go into too much detail. By January he was out and feeling fit and ready to hit the road again promoting his most successful album to date.
I caught up with Justin Townes Earle on the afternoon of his gig at the Cluny II, Newcastle in late January.
“How are you?” I asked to break the ice.
“Absolutely fine, thanks. I’m feeling the best I have in a long time; the tour is going well and the songs from the new album are being well received so I can’t complain.”
JTE lit a cigarette as I asked my next (legally obliged) question, ‘What was your relationship with your father like in your teens – did you listen to his music very much?’
Justin took a drag on his cigarette and gave me a very thin smile as he considered his answer.
“To be honest I hardly saw my Dad at that time. I don’t think it had been a particularly friendly divorce and Dad was touring a lot at that time so…….our paths didn’t cross very much. When they did cross we got along fine I guess; but I was brought up 100% by my Mom who was working two jobs to keep a roof over our heads. She tried her best and showed me a lot of love but I was kinda running wild with a bunch of older friends for most of that time. There isn’t a lot to do in Nashville when you are a kid so I got into a lot of minor trouble and because I was taller than everyone else; could get served in liquor stores plus I was playing in bad punk bands from the age of 11 or 12 and doing what guys in bands do – smoking dope and drinking liquor. Dad became involved when I was 14 because things were getting out of hand and I was getting involved in much stronger stuff and Mom needed his help. Thankfully he wasn’t judgemental and ‘showed me the errors of my ways’ (a big smile accompanied this sentence) and I got straightened out for a while.
I was in a bad Nirvana-type band at that time and because Kurt Cobain said his biggest influence had been Leadbelly I investigated his work and I found I loved it; it spoke to me in a way music never had before and I knew then that I wanted a career in music.
I stopped going to school at age 14 and spent the next 8 years hustling a living playing music and selling drugs. Music was my way through life but it was the drug scene that financed it all.
By the time that I was 22 the drugs were really taking a toll and after one really bad experience too many; my family got me to go into rehab; which was the best thing I’ve ever done. It was harder than you can ever imagine but I managed to get clean and start playing music again. To some extent Rob Miller from Bloodshot Records took me under his wing and not only gave me a roof to live under but offered me a record contract. So with the help of a girlfriend who got together the $1,000 I needed I recorded Yuma at a small recording studio called Battletapes that Rob had recommended.
I knew that I could write good songs and sing but it was still a very nervous time when it was released because you never know what other people really think about your music.
The reviews and sales weren’t great but good enough for Bloodshot to stick with me as I toured all around the US. Even now after the release of Harlem River Blues I can’t thank Bloodshot enough for the support they’ve given me. The label is just full of great people who are prepared to take a chance with music industry outsiders and then build careers slowly rather than kick you off the roster because your second album only sold 70% more than the first one.
It’s because of that patience that my music has evolved from straight Woody Guthrie stuff to Honky-tonk to Gospel and beyond. I want to try everything when it comes to music so the next album will have a heavy Memphis/New Orleans feel to it with a big Church influence; not just Gospel but all denominations; black and white. I want to distinguish a common thread between Carter Family to the Staple Singers and to me that thread is through Church music.
On the song Harlem River Blues I gave it a Gospel tune to help the story move along as it was quite a dark tale and I think that it worked. It wasn’t about one specific person; as I’ve known a few people in my life that considered or chose to end their lives and it’s always sad for those that are left behind but I remember one particular friend who suddenly had a celebratory manner about himself in the days leading up to his suicide. It might appear odd but he felt it was the only thing that would bring him any peace.
Contrary to my own behaviour on many occasions I do know myself intimately and know what my limitations are so I draw from that well for my songs rather than actually follow that path.
In my opinion the best songwriters are honest and personal have been pretty autobiographical in their writing and I like to think I do the same.
Most of my songs are taken from my own experiences and the people around me. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. A good case is Mama’s Eyes on Midnight at the Movies – my Mom absolutely loves it and it makes her so proud of me, but my Dad has managed to ignore it for over two years!”
I then asked Justin how he felt about last years’ Harlem River Blues album as it won a host of awards and topped a number of music readers polls at the end of the year.
“I’m very appreciative and grateful as the Americana and Roots scene has been very supportive…….and very forgiving towards me over the years, but I know that these things are just fleeting moments and I have to enjoy them while they are here. You could be the best musician in the world in some people’s eyes and still not receive any credit, so I’m enjoying the adulation (big smile and a chuckle) while it lasts.
Two years ago I couldn’t get arrested……Hahahaha….well, obviously I could; but you know what I mean and in January I sang Harlem River Blues on the Letterman Show! Everyone in America watches that – 40 million people! Then I had National magazines wanting to interview me because ‘I had arrived’ (he shook his head in disbelief); but that just makes me want to work even harder and get better.”
I picked up on the Letterman Show and asked about the outfit that he’d worn that night.
Grinning and sharing a furtive glance with his Tour Manager, JTE answered, “I like good clothes; I always have. Growing up where I did you could only buy were hi-top sneakers, 34 regular jeans and huge plaid shirts which wasn’t a lot of good to a 6 feet 5 skinny kid like me! So, as soon as I made some money and moved to New York I bought clothes and shoes that fit me – lots of them! Then, when I got invited on the Letterman Show I wanted to make my Mom proud and bought a nice suit, white shirt and topped it off with a neat bow-tie. If you ever see the pictures or videos of me playing the Grand Old Oprey you’ll see that I dressed special then too; man; I looked good that night.
I guess I’m still quite young and led a crazy life but I’ve also had some incredibly wonderful moments too recently. Not everything I do ends up with me getting arrested (he looked pensive for a few seconds then continued), I guess you know I missed the British tour last year after getting arrested? (I nodded my agreement) As it’s still not gone to Court I can’t say too much about what happened that night apart from what you read was probably exaggerated 200% by some Press Agencies deliberately distorting some things that they were told to them by people who weren’t even in Indianapolis that night. It was a massive misunderstanding…..I’d been drinking……and….well…we’ll see what happens when it gets to Court…if it gets to Court. Maybe I’ll get a song or two out of the experience, so it’s not all bad.
Apart from Letterman and the Oprey I’ve also been invited…twice to take part in Levon Helm’s Midnight Ramble. The man is a certified legend and those nights are…..mystical…..it’s a separate world up there. There is such a wild assortment of people from the music and film industries there and friends of friends scattered everywhere. I was as honoured to play those nights as much as anything else I’ve done.”
As Justin took another cigarette out of the packet I asked who and what his influences had been and what was he listening to today?
“Wow.” He took a big breath and considered the question, “From as long as I can remember I was surrounded by music. Mom didn’t play music but had the radio on all day tuned to Pop and Country stations, I remember going through a Heavy Metal stage……the first live band I ever saw was Kiss! Then there was my Punk phase when I listened to anything from England because it was ‘authentic’ then Nirvana of course. It was through listening to Nirvana and reading Kurt Cobain’s interviews that I first heard about Sonny Terry and the like so went on to discover the Roots of American music, but I can listen to anything from Leadbelly to Chet Baker and the Replacements and find something new and fresh in there.
One of my favourite writers is a guy called Willis Alan Ramsey; he wrote Muskrat Love, Satin Sheets, Spider John and a bunch of other stuff that everyone has heard of. You should listen to his album it’s probably my favourite of all time.
(Justin began scrambling about on the desk) I’ve just got into Bruce Springsteen this week! Can you imagine that? I bought a copy of The Promise and can’t stop listening to it – it’s amazing. I didn’t know he could sound like that.”
As he searched fruitlessly for the CD I asked if he’d ever consider working with his father Steve.
“No…not really, that’s not my kind of thing and co-writing and duets aren’t in the forefront of my mind at the moment. I’m happy doing what I do; but I have a couple of songs in mind that I could duet with a few lady friends of mine; but my Dad? No. It’s the same with Politics; I have my views but they are personal. I can debate any subject you like in private but in public? That’s not my scene, so I leave that side of things to better informed people than me. This is what I do best; writing, singing and touring on my own.”
Mutual friends had already told me that he was really an all round good guy and after being in his company for over an hour I too haven’t got a bad word to say about him. I found him gracious, friendly, self-depreciating and perhaps overly open and honest. If he has any faults or vices now it can only be that he smokes too many cigarettes and drinks too much Red Bull!
©Alan Harrison2011
originally posted February 2011 www.maverick-country.com