Justin Townes Earle says his songs are not necessarily autobiographical.
Justin Townes Earle is in Alexandria, Virginia when TimeOut calls, getting ready to go on stage at a classic music hall known as The Birchmere. He really is a modern-day troubadour, travelling to each and every town that will have him, to share his songs. But the touring has two purposes, for it's also where he collects stories for new songs - he is a constant writer, so much so that despite releasing only his sixth album Single Mothers in September, he's also got another album ready for release, possibly before the year's end.
"You see I wrote the songs from Single Mothers quite a while ago, but I recorded them in July, so they've been around for a while in my head. This record was supposed to come out about a year ago, but due to label complications, it ended up not getting done. But in that time, I also wrote another record, so we recorded all the songs at the same time, 22 songs for two albums. But it's interesting because they were all written over such a long period, I went through so much change in my life at the same time."
Indeed, Earle found himself getting married last year.
"I went from feeling very down about life in general, I'd kind of lost my trust in women in general, and I wasn't in a good place, but one thing I can say, is that my wife absolutely changed my life as far as I'm concerned."
He finds it amusing that people who listen to Single Mothers thinking those songs were written after he was married have sometimes jumped to the conclusion that there must be something wrong with the relationship, when they don't really reflect his current state of mind.
"I think my songs are always going to be somewhat dark, in a lot of ways, because I've only been married for a year, and a lot of things have drastically, drastically changed in my life in a short time. I absolutely adore my wife, but I can remember what it was like before I met her. Plus my songs aren't necessarily autobiographical."
The album doesn't lack for romance, though, in fact Burning Pictures is a wonderfully honest take on the things we do for love.
"I think that song is based on hopeless romantics in general. I mean, there's very few people on this earth that haven't done something at some point in their lives that's completely and ridiculously dramatic for a relationship. We've all got the ability to do stupid things in love because it drives out emotions to their utmost extremes. It takes everything you've got to be in a relationship really, and people forget that sometimes."
He recorded Single Mothers in Nashville (his birth place), at a place called Quad Studios, in the room where Neil Young recorded Harvest, but Earle specifically avoided working with Nashville musicians this time.
"I grabbed musicians from Denton, Texas this time, because I knew that I was not going to be able to accomplish what I wanted with players that came from the Nashville sound. The Nashville sound is so f***ed that you can't even recognise it anymore. My guitarist Paul Niehaus has lived in Nashville since 1981, and he's somehow managed to stay away from it, but it's hard to do. So I needed to go get musicians somewhere else. Some of the best players in the world are in Nashville, but it doesn't mean they're right for everything."
He opted for a more stripped-back sound palette this time, but he's still very much playing with the Memphis sound, as he did on his previous two records Harlem River Blues and Nothing's Gonna Change The Way You Feel About Me Now.
"It's definitely pushing that sound a little further, it might take a minute to recognise because there are no horns on it, there's nothing except for four guys playing, so it's a very sparse recording in some ways. Nobody is hitting big chords -- we're making it more like Booker T and the MGs, where people mix together small sounds to make it sound like one."
That band will be on the road with him when he tours New Zealand this week -- it'll be his fifth visit here in the last six years, so he clearly likes making the trip, but it'll be a special visit with one extra member in the touring party this time. "We always enjoy New Zealand, but I'm bringing the wife down this time, so we're really looking forward to it."
Who: Justin Townes Earle
What: New album Single Mothers, out now.
Where and when: Performing at The Bedford in Christchurch on Thursday October 23, Bodega in Wellington on Friday October 24, Tuning Fork in Auckland for two nights on Saturday October 25, and Sunday October 26.
- TimeOut