I was introduced to Justin Townes Earle last year at possibly the worst time for him: Right in the midst of his personal struggle as he cancelled a tour to go to rehab. Normally things like that would ward listeners off but I was intrigued and even more so when I discovered he wrote a "country" album about New York City. It's certainly not your typical fodder for anything vaguely resembling folk music and yet that's exactly what Earle sets out to do so on Harlem River Blues.
It's easy to peg the Nashville bred Earle as a country singer who seems way out of his element singing about a city with virtually nothing country about it. And yet, Earle isn't really a country singer. Sure he has the sort of Southern drawl and twangy guitar that comes naturally to most of them but what Earle's has that others don't is an inventiveness that keeps his music from sounding like what you'd typically find in the genre. No, Earle's music is a combination of bluegrass and folksy Americana with the sensibility and engaging nature of Indie rock. It's why he can get away with convincingly spinning tales about a city that's as far away from as country as can be like the work song "Working for the MTA".
With Harlem River Blues, Justin Townes Earle proves that you can work wonders if given the proper inspiration. The album is fresh and innovative and yet familiar. Earle could be singing about anywhere but just happens to be singing about New York City. There's not a whole lot of you have to know about the city in order to get the album or understand what he's singing about. Rather he uses the city as focus for his tales of love lost, defeat, and possible redemption.
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