Harlem River Blues – The Art of the Mixtape

Song of the Day: Rogers Park, Justin Townes Earle

Tucked in at the end of Justin Townes Earle’s Harlem River Blues, one of the best albums of 2010 is a rousing heart-wrenching ballad “Rogers Park”. While most of the songs on the album have a celebratory jaunt in the music to contrast the lyrical mood, “Rogers Park” is a restrained mood, with an absolutely beautiful piano melody motif, and some of the best lyrics Justin Townes Earle has ever written in his career. It’s a somber pick-up from Bruce Springsteen’s Born to Run tramp, starting off with the echoing words “This town’s dead tonight. I’ve got no place to be.”. An absolute profound recording with some beautiful slide guitar work.

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Justin Townes Earle is a man of many things, he’s got the family history (he’s the son of Steve Earle), the prestigious middle name (from Townes Van Zandt) but most of all he’s got talent. An authentic country voice, Justin Townes Earle’s new album Harlem River Blues brings his Nashville roots to the Big Apple. The title track featured here is a real nice warm your feet by the fire gospel groove, featuring a vocal beyond his years, a somewhat similarly haunted yet more tuneful Johnny Cash. The backing band and gospel chorus are great and Justin Townes Earle is fast becoming as timeless as those who gave him his name.