Townes

iTunes Review

Townes Van Zandt was not only Steve Earle’s artistic inspiration but a personal friend and mentor. No wonder then that his long-awaited tribute is Earle’s most inviting and sweet-natured album in years. Townes captures the timelessness and gentle charm of Van Zandt’s best songs, but it also works as a retrospective of Earle’s career. “Lungs” adopts the cacophonous, postmodern rock ’n’ roll of The Revolution Starts Now, while the unadorned folk of “Colorado Girl,” “Rake,” and “Marie” returns Earle to his autobiographical breakthrough, Train a Comin’. Best of all, about half of Townes revisits Earle’s unique brand of rollicking bluegrass, not heard since 2000’s The Mountain. “White Freightliner Blues,” “Delta Momma Blues”, and “Don’t Take It Too Bad” are reinvigorated without being renovated; Van Zandt would surely have approved. There's a wealth of sensitivity and sweetness to these performances, and even the loping blues of “Brand New Companion” is fired by Earle’s deeply felt affection towards his departed friend. Rootsy but not overly reverent, Townes is the first truly great homage to Texas’s immortal songster.