Justin Townes Earle

Early life

Earle grew up in South Nashville, Tennessee, with his mother, Carol Ann Hunter Earle. His father, Steve Earle, gave him his middle name in honor of his own mentor, Townes van Zandt. At the age of two he was left by his father with his mother, but returned to live with his father after Steve got clean in 1994. He dropped out of school, occasionally touring with and working for his father, eventually moving to eastern Tennessee with other songwriters. Like his father, Earle battled addiction beginning in his early teens.

Career

Earle played in two Nashville bands: the Distributors, a rock band, and a ragtime and bluegrass combo the Swindlers. Earle spent some time as guitarist and keyboardist for his father's touring band the Dukes.

Earle developed a hybrid style of music mixing folk, blues and country. In 2007, he released a six-song EP called Yuma. He then signed a contract with Chicago's Bloodshot Records and he released an album called The Good Life in 2008.

In 2009 Earle co-billed The Big Surprise Tour with Gillian Welch and David Rawlings, Old Crow Medicine Show and The Felice Brothers and released the album Midnight at the Movies. In September 2009, Earle received an Americana Music Award for New and Emerging Artist of the Year.

In 2010 he released the album Harlem River Blues, followed by the album Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now in 2012. He also appeared in an episode of the HBO television series Treme with his father.

In 2011 Earle received the Americana Music Award in the Song of the Year category for "Harlem River Blues". His album of the same name has been described as having a "gently flowing, urban Americana sound, with horns, organ and tangy electric guitar". That year he also contributed a cover of Maybe Baby on the 2011 tribute album Rave on Buddy Holly. and played Newport Folk Festival and the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival.

Nothing's Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now was listed at album number 37 on Rolling Stone's list of the top 50 albums of 2012, with the annotation as follows: "The son of country-rock renegade Steve Earle has grown into a songwriter to rival his dad."

Earle produced Wanda Jackson's album Unfinished Business in 2012.

Earle played the Grand Ole Opry in 2008, Historical WSM, South By Southwest (2008–2010, 2012), the historic Beacon Theater (May 2009), Bristol Rhythm and Roots Reunion (September 2009), Bonnaroo (2009) Bumbershoot (2010), the East Coast Blues & Roots Music Festival (Byron Bay, Australia), 2012, the Bowery Ballroom (March 2010) and the Nelsonville Music Festival (2008 and 2011).

Personal life

Earle was born in Nashville, Tennessee where he was raised by his mother. He began using drugs at age 12 and continued for many years. He spent time in a rehabilitation clinic followed by a period of sobriety then was reported to have relapsed in September 2010. During his relapse he was involved in a fight with an Indianapolis club owner. He was jailed overnight and spent a month in an alcohol rehabilitation center. He has been sober since then.

Earle moved to New York City in 2009, then returned to Nashville, Tennessee for several years. Earle was married in 2013, and he and his wife currently live on the west coast. They are expecting their first child, Etta St. James Earle, in July 2017.