Steve Earle Tribute to Justin Townes Earle “J.T” Sets Release

Steve Earle’s tribute album to his late son Justin Townes Earle called J.T. will be released on January 4th, 2021 digitally, which would have been Justin’s 39th birthday. CD and vinyl copies to be made available on March 19th, 2021 via New West Records. The album will include 10 songs originally written by Justin Townes Earle, along with a new song from Steve to conclude the album.
“The record is called J.T. because Justin was never called anything else until he was nearly grown. Well, when he was little, I called him Cowboy,” says Steve Earle. “For better or worse, right or wrong, I loved Justin Townes Earle more than anything else on this earth. That being said, I made this record, like every other record I’ve ever made… for me. It was the only way I knew to say goodbye.”
100% of artist proceeds and royalties from the album will be donated to a trust of Etta St. James Earle, the three-year-old daughter of Justin and Jenn Earle. The couple was married in 2013, and Etta was born in June of 2017. The recording will also feature Steve Earle’s backing band The Dukes, which currently consists of Chris Masterson on guitar, Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle and vocals, Ricky Ray Jackson on pedal steel, guitar and dobro, Brad Pemberton on drums and percussion, and Jeff Hill on acoustic and electric bass.
Well-respected as a songwriter and performer, Justin Townes Earle was one of the rising stars in the Americana scene after first releasing a well-received six-song EP called Yuma in 2007, which led to him being signed to Bloodshot Records out of Chicago. This led to five critically-acclaimed records beginning with 2008’s The Good Life.

By 2010, Justin Townes Earle was opening the doors for the country and Americana insurgency that would take root in the years to come. His album Harlem River Blues became a breakout, and the title track became the 2011 Americana Music Association’s Song of the Year, and he performed the song on Letterman with an up-and-coming Jason Isbell playing guitar.
After fulfilling his contract with Bloodshot Records, Justin Townes Earle moved to Vagrant Records where he released Single Mothers and Absent Fathers in 2014 and 2015 respectively, before moving to New West who released his final two records, Kids in the Street in 2017, and Saint of Lost Causes in 2019.
The death of Justin Townes Earle was announced on August 23rd via his official social media channels. It was explained on August 25th that police and fire had responded to Earle’s apartment in Nashville after receiving a request for a welfare check. When they arrived at the residence, they had to force entry, and found no signs of struggle or foul play.
Though the death was labeled “unclassified” pending findings from the Medical Examiner’s Office in Nashville, police preliminarily determined Earle’s cause of death to be a “probable drug overdose.” However Saving Country Music has been able to confirm from numerous sources that in the weeks leading up to Justin Townes Earle’s death, he had been suffering from a severe case of pneumonia, and had been hospitalized due to the illness, and required surgery on his lung. Earle had also suffered from a collapsed lung previously. At the time of his death, Earle was still recovering from the condition, and was “very weak.”
Saving Country Music spoke to the Davidson County Medical Examiner on Wednesday (11/18), who confirmed, “The case is still pending additional studies. The doctor has not established a cause of death as of now.” However, the Medical Examiners Office has cited August 23rd as the date of Justin Townes Earle’s death, not August 20th, which has been widely reported. Final autopsy reports can take up to 12 weeks to conclude.
Ahead of the new tribute record, Steve Earle’s rendition of “Harlem River Blues” has been released (listen below). J.T. is now available for pre-order.
Steve Earle – J.T. Track List:
1. I Don’t Care
2. Ain’t Glad I’m Leaving
3. Maria
4. Far Away In Another Town
5. They Killed John Henry
6. Turn Out My Lights
7. Lone Pine Hill
8. Champagne Corolla
9. The Saint Of Lost Causes
10. Harlem River Blues
11. Last Words
November 18, 2020 @ 10:46 am
Nice write up…RIP JT!
November 18, 2020 @ 10:51 am
Wow. What an excellent cover of “Harlem River Blues.” The fiddle and pedal steel arrangements are perfect. I’m really looking forward to this album.
Trig – we met at Licha’s a couple of years ago during a Sarah Shook set at SXSW. I play pedal steel for a number of bands in DFW. I took JTE’s passing very hard. Your review of “Midnight at the Movies” was one of the key moments that defined my music taste and ultimately, my path in life. Like Steve Earle, the only way that I knew how to say goodbye and thank JTE for what he did for us was to cover his music. I got some of the best DFW musicians together to track “Learning to Cry.” We’re currently working on the release details. I’m looking forward to sharing it with you, and hopefully others that follow this page.
November 18, 2020 @ 11:00 am
Hey Marco,
Yes, I remember our conversation! Hit me up with DM when you have the details together.
November 18, 2020 @ 10:54 am
That was fast. I wonder if he ever thought when making Townes and Guy he’d be making a J.T.?
November 19, 2020 @ 6:56 pm
Sad to say, but I think Steve knows enough about addiction to at least have thought he might outlive Justin. Even if it was other issues, he was slipping the last couple years.
November 18, 2020 @ 11:06 am
I always thought that during on the bridge of “Far Away in Another Town”, that JTE sounded just like his Dad. That Steve picked that song to record, I wonder if he thought the same thing.
November 18, 2020 @ 12:18 pm
I love ’em both, father and son but this cover pales in comparison to JTE’s version. It’s not bad but it’s just missing something. Kind of tough to listen to really considering it has not been that long since he passed.
November 18, 2020 @ 12:39 pm
Saw JTE live in February. Our last live concert before the pandemic lockdown. I actually thought he was more talented than his father. It was hard to hear of his passing.
November 19, 2020 @ 4:05 am
Love Steve, but JT was definitely on another level as a vocal talent.
This sounds like Steve’s trying to keep up, rather than owning the cover.
November 18, 2020 @ 7:28 pm
Sounds like garbage. If I want to hear JTE then I’ll listen to JTE. Dudes been dead like 11 minutes and his dad is already trying to profit off his art.
November 18, 2020 @ 7:37 pm
Jaypotta, you are definitely going to stir the potta. Personally can’t stand Steve, never have.
November 19, 2020 @ 2:18 am
Steve Earle is one of the best country-roots songwriters of the last 30-35 years.
November 18, 2020 @ 8:24 pm
“100% of artist proceeds and royalties from the album will be donated to a trust of Etta St. James Earle, the three-year-old daughter of Justin and Jenn Earle.”
November 18, 2020 @ 8:58 pm
Touché. I’ll stand down.
November 19, 2020 @ 6:41 pm
For future reference, it’s common practice to read an article BEFORE you comment on it.
November 19, 2020 @ 8:35 am
I dont believe in kicking a man when he’s down, so I won’t voice negative opinions on Steve today. Regardless, I agree with Jazz that he is a very important songwriter. If he only had done Guitar Town and called it a wrap, I would still consider him a great writer. But he’s got a voluminous body of work that stands the test of time. Love or hate him, hes an elite songwriter and an inspiration to many.
As for JTE, he did have a better singing voice than his old man. And he was a fine writer as well. If he could have got control of that addiction, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. He’d probably be enjoying a career comeback about now.
November 19, 2020 @ 2:04 pm
To be clear, I love Steve’s voice – he does an incredible job writing to it, so that even the weaknesses become strengths.
JTE’s songs are written for someone who can sing like Justin, though. Steve needs to arrange them much differently to do them justice.
November 19, 2020 @ 8:39 am
Mr. Earle you will never know how much your son touched people. I loved him from the moment I heard him and saw him. I always pulled for him to have a full and successful life. Look forward to more of your music. (btw I am an 80 year old female-not some young chic fan)
November 19, 2020 @ 3:10 pm
Why in the world would anyone take this as an opportunity to go after Steve Earle. Clearly, the guy is heartbroken and expressing his feelings the only way he probably knows how. I know that Trigger quickly referenced the line in the article in which he made it clear that Steve Earle was donating all proceeds when one of the posters suggested this was a cash grab, so I don’t think I need to say much more but, my God, what kind of pathetic lowlife would go after a father who just lost his son. Clearly the majority of the people who are attacking, or will subsequently attack, Steve Earle will be doing so based on his politics. Leave the man alone, he is in the mourning. I don’t necessarily agree with Steve Earle’s politics, but first and foremost I would never kick a man when he is down and secondly, screw all y’all, that man has released a string of albums that demonstrate what a great artist he is. His debut album, Guitar Town, alone should earn him a place as an untouchable songwriter and artist. To have then followed that album up in succession with Exit 0, Copperhead Road, The Hard Way, Train a Coming, and I Feel Alright makes him a legend comparable to Dwight and many others. I only bring up the quality of his work because others are using that as a sub text to attack him when in reality all of these attacks are just thinly veiled political attacks. Stop with the Trump Thumping and show some respect for a man who just lost his son. I love trigger and the work he does on this website, but some of the people that troll here really make it hard to read the comments section at all. Focus on the music, people. No one cares about your political view points on a website dedicated to music.
November 19, 2020 @ 3:32 pm
Here here.
November 19, 2020 @ 5:14 pm
“Why in the world would anyone take this as an opportunity to go after Steve Earle?”
Because there are a large number of useless fucks with zero talent and little accomplishment in life who extract comfort from bagging on people who do have talent (or people reeling in pain). Earle has done a good thing; this is his way of saying goodbye to his boy.
The money raised will go to JT’s daughter, as Trigger (and every other outlet covering this story) has pointed out.
November 19, 2020 @ 6:58 pm
I would argue Justin was a better singer and guitar player (and I think Steve would agree), but I think Steve is the better writer.
November 20, 2020 @ 6:45 am
I would agree with that. Also, I’d say Steve is a more adventurous artist. I do remember reading a great compliment from Steve about Justin maybe a few years ago where he said Justin’s best songs were as good as anyone’s.
November 20, 2020 @ 6:03 pm
I only started listening to Justin after his death, and started with Harlem River Blues. When I checked out Trigger’s review of Harlem river Blues, I was shocked to see how disappointed he was in the album and song at the time. It’s still my favorite song of his. That said, it seems like the song was written for me because I had a stillborn son this year. “I’m not gonna make a sound.” And that, in a way, even moreso for Steve’s cover of it, even though Justin’s voice is better no doubt.