Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle on the Way
When Justin Townes Earle left us on August 20th, 2020, he left behind a musical legacy whose impact well surpassed his output of eight studio albums over ten years, or simply being yet another famous son of a well-known performer. The songs of Justin Townes Earle were the opening salvo and direct inspiration for the revolutionary strides that have been made in independent country and roots music over the last few years in the wake of his passing.
With his aching, painful delivery of poetically elegant songs ripped straight out of his own biography and smeared with tears and the residues of addiction, Justin Townes Earle embodied everything you wanted from the tragic troubadour holding on just enough to perform for you—all of it punctuated with the plucky, almost violent way he pulled at the lower strings of an acoustic guitar more akin to the clawhammer style inflicted on a banjo than the strums or fingerpicks accustomed to a six string.
Justin Townes Earle lived what he sang, and sang what he lived. Now his short, but propulsive and influential life will be chronicled in an authorized biography called What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome. Written by journalist Jonathan Bernstein who received the full cooperation of the Justin Townes Earle estate and Earle’s widow Jenn Marie, the 368-page biography will be released on January 13th, 2026.
The book is said to chronicle Justin Townes Earle’s period of long-term sobriety, along with his moments of relapse that ultimately led to his overdose death. It also tells the backstories behind some of Earle’s most landmark songs like “Mama’s Eyes” and “White Gardenias,” along with insight into the “shadow world of the neglected children of Nashville legends who wrestle with the legacies of their hard-living, road-weary, often absent parents.”
Justin Townes Earle was of course the son of alt-country legend Steve Earle, but Justin would go on to forge a legacy that continues to live on irrespective of the famous last name. And similar to the tragic story of Luke Bell who the music community also lost in 2022, the lessons from the Justin Townes Earle story are ones the entire music community needs to learn from and reckon with, making sure artists prone to mental health issues and addiction are cared for.
What Do You Do When You’re Lonesome: The Authorized Biography of Justin Townes Earle is now available for pre-order.
October 2, 2025 @ 6:26 pm
So excited for this book. Bernstein’s Rolling Stone piece after JTE died was so good. To me it painted a realistic picture of Justin. The good and bad. Pain and joy. So much nuance. Can’t wait to read this b
October 2, 2025 @ 9:13 pm
Jason Isbell’s alleged UNauthorized audio-biography of J.T.E. was pretty good.
I think that told the story in sufficient detail in a tad under 4 minutes. An authorized unabridged deep-dive sounds like overkill..
October 2, 2025 @ 10:07 pm
As someone who’s privy to some of the JTE details not enumerated in public just yet, I’d say Jason Isbell’s oral history is woefully inefficient for giving the full scope of the story. But not dissimilar to any other subject, unless you’re really into Justin Townes Earle, 368 pages is going to be too much. But this book is not meant for you anyway.