In many ways it’s hard to say that Justin Townes Earle is gone. The highly respected artist touched the lives of many with his unique sounds and style. Now to pay respect to his music and his memory, his father Steve Earle & The Dukes will release a new album full of his songs titled J.T. Coming out digitally in January and physically in March, J.T. contains eleven classic Justin Townes Earle songs. To mark the occasion the cover of “Harlem River Blues” is the lead single, and Steve Earle definitely does the song justice.

The big band sound from a sparse set up of the original is here as Earle offers his signature voice to the cover. A little harsher in its tone, the spirit of the song remains while offering up a more harmonic version of the song. The added instrumentation doesn’t go unnoticed as this country rock version mixes the NOLA tones with ease.

The cover can be heard wherever you stream music. It can be purchased digitally as well. J.T. will be made available digitally on January 04 or it can be preordered on multiple physical formats from New West Records when it drops March 19. 

Image Credits: Photo by Sara Sharpe.