Justin's Tribute To Mama

There are alot of musicians out there that are children of famous musicians. They usually don't make it, living up to a big name isn't the easiest thing to do. There was actually a show on tv a while back that was like a American Idol for musicians kids. They had Dee Sniders son, Joe Walsh's daughter, Eddie Moneys daughter, etc, but none of them really wowed the music industry with their talent. But I just recently discovered a huge talent in the industry's pool. Justin Townes Earle the son of Steve Earle and grandson of Allison Moorer is a talent that just cant be overlooked. At the age of 28 he has already won an AMA award and already has been playing at the Grand Ole Opry. Not being around his dad as a child Justin had a hard childhood, being addicted to hard drugs by the age of 12 and carrying that drug addiction throughout his teens and early 20s. He even toured with his fathers band The Dukes playing keyboards but was fired after his drug addiction affected his performance. Lately though Justin has come off drugs and has a new outlook on life, focusing on songwriting it really has paid off and you can hear it on his new album Harlem River Blues, which got great reviews from critics worldwide. I love the new country/bluegrass/folk outbreak in the past couple years. Bands like Justin, Old Crow Medicine Show, Felice Brothers, etc are releasing great albums one after the other and its a breath of fresh air from today's music that has no soul or meaning, just words thrown into a beat. Songs like Mama's Eyes which Townes wrote about his mother being a huge part of his life and probably the only part of his life since his dad was never around, always touring trying to make a buck. There's heart and soul pouring directly into this song. Its what music needs and I am glad I found it.