Tag: Justin Townes Earle

Virginian Jake Kohn’s Young Soulful Voice Sounds Older Than the Hills in “Dreams”

Jake Kohn is young but the singer-songwriter from Virginia is a rising star with a voice for the ages.

Jake Kohn is just starting another year of high school, but his voice has been travelling far beyond Stephen City, Virginia. This summer, Kohn has been singing live at venues in states such as Tennessee, the Carolinas, Kentucky, and Ohio. And he has also make an impression on YouTube. Many are astounded by the soulful voice they hear coming out of someone who is only sixteen. But Kohn also writes beautiful songs, illustrating that he is likely someone we will be hearing a lot of in the future.

Kohn got his start when his great-grandmother gave him a guitar she had used as a kid. Not only did Kohn take to the instrument, but his voice has a touch of Joe Cocker that sounds much older than the young man from where it originates.

Kohn started out writing stories, and that evolved into writing songs. He finds inspiration in many great country songwriters, but his greatest influence is Justin Townes Earle. Kohn explains, “He’s my favorite songwriter and about the best guitar stylist I’ve ever heard.”

While a record label has yet to sign Kohn, I expect we have not heard the last of his amazing voice. His original song “Frostbite,”which was posted in March 2023, has more than 700,000 views on YouTube. This week, Kohn posted a new song. Check out Jake Kohn singing his latest, “Dreams.”

Leave your two cents in the comments.

On the Hill Where Angels Sing: John Prine and Justin Townes Earle Singing “Far From Me”

John Prine and Justin Townes Earle, who both passed away in 2020, shared the stage in 2015 on Prine’s song, “Far From Me.”

John Prine Justin Townes Earle

During a year of much loss, it was sad to lose such beauty with John Prine and Justin Townes Earle both dying in 2020. They were both unique talents, and brought such humanity with their songs, often touching on sad parts of life, but with love and a touch of humor. Five years before their death, they shared a stage in Houston and performed Prine’s song, “Far From Me.”

In “Far From Me,” the singer recounts the ending of a relationship as the singer realizes it is coming to an end and cannot do anything about it. He sees things are different between the two of them, even as he tries to maintain the relationship the way it once was.

And the sky is black and still now
On the hill where the angels sing
Ain’t it funny how an old broken bottle
Looks just like a diamond ring
But it’s far, far from me.

Justin Townes Earle did a beautiful cover of the song on the John Prine Tribute album, Broken Hearts & Dirty Windows, The Songs of John Prine. And on May 15, 2015, the two men appeared on stage together in Houston, Texas at the Cullen Performance Hall to perform “Far From Me” together. Check it out.

What is your favorite cover of a John Prine song? Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    Steve Earle Covers Justin Townes Earle’s “Harlem River Blues”

    Steve Earle has released a cover of “Harlem River Blues,” part of an upcoming album recorded in tribute to Earle’s late son, Justin Townes Earle.

    Steve Earle & The Dukes are releasing the album J.T. as a tribute to Earle’s son Justin Townes Earle, who passed away on August 20, 2020. Steve Earle has released the first song from the album, a cover of one of the younger Earle’s more popular songs, “Harlem River Blues.”

    J.T. will feature ten songs written by Justin Townes Earle. The album also will include a song that the father wrote for his son called “Last Words.”

    Earle’s cover of “Harlem River Blues” stays close to the original version, much as Earle has done on his tribute albums to close friends Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark. Earle still allows the Dukes some leeway to inject joy into the music, making sure that the song is also a celebration of Justin’s life and career.

    “Harlem River Blues” originally appeared as the title track on Justin Townes Earle’s 2010 album Harlem River Blues. Below, check out Justin performing the song with the Americana All-Star Band at the 2011 Americana Music Association Honors & Awards.

    New West Records will release J.T. digitially on January 4, 2021, which would have been Justin Townes Earle’s 39th birthday. The CD and vinyl versions will be released on March 19, 2021. All of the artist advances and royalties from J.T. will be donated to a trust for the three-year-old daughter of Justin and Jenn Earle, Etta St. James Earle.

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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    You’ll Miss The Time You Waste

    Justin Townes Earle passed away on August 23, 2020, leaving behind an impressive catalog of music starting with a debut song on one of his father’s albums.

    Justin Townes Earle

    The first time I heard Justin Townes Earle’s voice was on the final song of his father Steve Earle’s 2003 album, Just An American Boy. The father gave his son the final track on the album on the son’s song, “Time You Waste.” Although I still had to wait several years for an album from the talented son, that wonderful debut led to a career of stellar music and albums. So, like many fans, I was heartbroken to learn that 2020 had claimed the life of Justin Townes Earle at the age of 38.

    The news sent me back to listen to many of his albums that I had in my collection, including from his debut EP Yuma (2007) through his much acclaimed Harlem River Blues (2010) through his personal exploration in Single Mothers (2014) and Absent Fathers (2015) to his latest The Saint of Lost Causes (2019). Earle had carved out his own niche, separate from his father, but still influenced by him as well as the singer-songwriter he was named for, Townes Van Zandt.

    Like his father and the man he was named for, Justin Townes Earle faced his own substance abuse problems throughout his life. We always rooted for him to succeed in controlling the demons, as his father had done. So we are heartbroken that he died even so much younger than his namesake, who had died at the age of 52.

    Thinking about the music of Justin Townes Earle in this age of the pandemic where we have lost so many, I keep going back to that debut recording of “Time You Waste.”

    Don’t think that I,
    I wouldn’t take every minute back
    If I could bring myself
    To live like that.

    Cause all the other ones,
    You only get one chance;
    It’s seeing life through the eyes of the innocent;
    So take it slow;
    No need in haste,

    Because the time you’ll miss
    Is the time you waste;

    Yeah the time you’ll miss, babe
    Is the time you waste.

    Our thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Justin Townes Earle, including his wife and daughter, his mother, and his father Steve Earle.

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    Runner of the Woods Debut Album: “Thirsty Valley”

    Nick Beaudoing

    The band Runner of the Woods has released its debut album, Thirsty Valley. I like the alt-country sound of this group, which is fronted by Nick Beaudoing, who used to play with the Doc Marshalls of New York City.

    In Beaudoing’s voice on some of the tracks, I hear a sound a little like Justin Townes Earle with a touch of Ryan Adams, partly affected by Beaudoing’s move south to Nashville. On Runner of the Woods’s website, it describes the new Thirsty Valley album as “the sort of record a man makes when love has gone good but something else is still missing. It’s the thousand-yard stare that accompanies boozy recollections of perfect northern lakes or some girl you used to know.”

    Below is a solo acoustic version of one of the songs from Thirsty Valley, “Good Things Will Come.” Check it out.

    To hear other songs from the new debut album, head over to the band’s website. Runner of the Woods, whose band’s name is a reference to both the natural beauty of Tennessee and to Beaudoing’s French-Canadian heritage, consists of: Nicolas Beaudoing (Guitar/Vocals); Jonathan Gregg (Pedal Steel); Craig Aspen (Bass); and Nic Wiles (Drums).

    Leave your two cents in the comments.

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