Steve Earle

Far more than a tribute, Steve Earle’s Townes helps correct the record, so to speak. The man he calls the “maestro” was not all that well represented by most of his studio recordings, with the exception of 1987’s At My Window. Even though all 15 tracks here bear Earle’s firm and unmistakable artistic stamp, they also evoke visions of what might have been had Townes Van Zandt’s albums been produced with the insight, imagination and artistic empathy they deserved. After opening with versions of Van Zandt’s two most oft-recorded numbers — “Pancho and Lefty” (as a meditation that lifts to crescendo) and “White Freightliner Blues” (as banjo-driven and fiddle-lit bluegrass) — that stand tall beside any of the rest, Earle gleans from his late friend and mentor’s catalog both better known and obscure choices with utterly stunning results. To single out a few, “Lungs” (with Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello) is a narcotic folk tune that builds to a stunning fever dream; “Brand New Companion” feels like Mance Lipscomb with an electric guitar on his front porch; and “(Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria,” drenched in harmonium, feels just like what its title says. But truly every cut on here is sheer perfection in mood, mode and musicality. Townes is a mile-marker monument in Earle’s already distinguished career, and an even deeper bow to Van Zandt’s greatness.