Steve Earle & The Dukes To Release Album Of Songs Written By Justin Townes Earle

Steve Earle & The Dukes. Photo: Jacob Blickenstaff

Steve Earle & The Dukes announced today (Sept. 16) that they will be recording an album of songs written by late singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle, with 100% of artist advances and royalties going toward a trust for Justin’s daughter, Etta St. James Earle.

Earle revealed he expects the album to be recorded in October, and released in January 2021, close to what would have been Justin Townes Earle’s 39th birthday. More details on the project will be released at a later date.

Justin Townes Earle, son of Steve Earle, died last month at the age of 38. He released his debut EP, Yuma, in 2007, followed by the full-length project The Good Life the next year. In 2009, he issued Midnight at the Movies and was named Emerging Artist of the Year at the 2010 Americana Music Awards; the album was also nominated for Album of the Year and he garnered an AMA Artist of the Year nomination. He released Harlem River Blues in 2010, and produced 2012’s Unfinished Business by Wanda Jackson. He continued with 2012’s Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now, 2014’s Single Mothers, 2015’s Absent Fathers and 2017’s Kids in the Street.