Steve Earle’s debt to cult singer-songwriter Townes Van Zandt is
immeasurable. Van Zandt championed Earle during his struggling-artist
years, and Earle even named one of his sons after the troubled
troubadour (who drank and drugged himself to death when he was 52). In
a way, Earle’s entire career has been a tribute to Van Zandt —
from his plaintive storytelling to his turbulent personal history. But
Townes is his first album-length tribute, a 15-track survey of
Van Zandt’s finest compositions that starts with a low-key version of
his best-known song, “Pancho and Lefty,” a country hit for Willie
Nelson and Merle Haggard in the ’80s. Throughout Townes, Earle
shifts between solo acoustic retellings and band-assisted electric
fury, sticking pretty close to Van Zandt’s templates. He’s at his best
— like on the meditative “No Place to Fall” and “To Live Is to
Fly” — when Van Zandt was at his best. — Michael
Gallucci
This article appears in May 13-19, 2009.
