Harlem River Blues

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Harlem River Blues is the brand new album from the charismatic, enigmatic, prolific Justin Townes Earle and his third album in under three years. Woody Guthrie once said, "Any fool can make something complicated. It takes a genius to make it simple." on Harlem River Blues, Justin has chosen the simple route. The record's not a wall of sound produced to the rafters. It's rockin' and reelin' at times, sweet and slow at others-and it's great. Like good fried chicken, a well-cut suit and a handmade guitar, there's heaven to be found in the beautifully crafted simpler things. Harlem River Blues straddles not only the Mason-Dixon line, but time itself. As versed in Mance Lipscomb as he is in M. Ward and sporting Marc Jacobs suspenders, Justin Townes Earle is a man beyond eras. With Harlem River Blues, a record that's perfect for summer nights on either the front porch or the fire escape, Justin's found yet another way to be a timeless original. Review ------ He's fully absorbed his genetic and cultural heritage and draws upon both with great skill and dimension an utterly distinctive voice that takes what's come before and artfully moves it forward with the power of a certain steel-driving man. --LA Times HRB delivers in spades what his two previous offerings hinted at...the songwriter drops 11 weighty originals steeped in American musical traditions yet bearing his own inimitable lyric and stylistic signature. Earle proves that he is a force to be reckoned with, in these grooves he embodies the history, mystery, and promise of American roots music. As strong as his first two albums have been, it always seemed as if Justin Townes Earle was holding something back... it was hard not to suspect that someone as talented as he is could do even more. On his third album, Harlem River Blues, the singer-songwriter proves those suspicions were well-founded, expanding his sound and adding just the tiniest bit of pop sheen without sacrificing the intimacy and sense of timelessness that marked his previous work. It all fits together beautifully, creating one of the year's best albums. --American Songwriter A voice crying from some distant reverb of misfortune, and chilled with the lethal kind of conviction that moves ains. --The Independent (UK)