Justin Townes Earle is set to release his New West Records debut Kids In The Street on May 26th. The 12-song set was produced by Mike Mogis (Bright Eyes, First Aid Kit) at his ARC Studios, and is the first time in his career that Earle has worked with an outside producer. Kids In The Street marks a decade into Earle’s recording career and follows his acclaimed companion albums Single Mothers (2014) and Absent Fathers (2015). The deeply soulful set is both emotionally riveting and effortlessly uplifting. Now embracing sobriety, marriage, and impending fatherhood, Earle is enthusiastically looking to the future.
“Life has changed a lot for me in the last few years,” Earle reflects. “I got married and am getting ready to become a father, and this is the first record that I’ve written since I’ve been married. There’s definitely an uplifting aspect to this record in a lot of ways, because I’m feeling pretty positive.” He continues, “When I wrote songs in the past, I was looking in on what I was feeling, but this record’s more about looking outward on what’s happening, and writing about subjects like gentrification and inner city strife. This record also has more of a soul influence to it, and it’s got a deeper connection to the blues than anything I’ve done before.”
The album track “Faded Valentine” premiered today via UPRXX and can be heard below.
Several of the songs on Kids On The Street reference the lower-middle-class Nashville neighborhoods of Earle’s youth, which in recent years some say have lost their character to the creeping scourge of gentrification. Significantly, the album is the first of Earle’s not recorded in Nashville. “It’s the first time that I’ve worked outside of my usual umbrella of people to make a record,” Earle explains, adding “In Nashville, if you have the right connections, it’ll spoil the shit out of you, because you’ve got access to the best musicians in the world and the best studios in the world. If you had told me when I started making records, that I wasn’t gonna make every record in Nashville, I would have told you you were crazy. And if you’d told me that I’d end up making a record in Omaha, I’d tell you you were out of your freaking mind.”
Justin Townes Earle will take to the road this Spring with his longtime guitarist Paul Niehaus alongside The Sadies as his backing band (they will also support each show). The full band tour will kick off on April 27th in Santa Barbara, with his appearance at this year’s Stagecoach Festival in Indio, CA immediately following. Please see all dates below, with more to be added soon.
Kids In The Street Track Listing:
- Champagne Corolla
2. Maybe A Moment
3. What’s She Crying For
4. 15-25
5. Kids In The Street
6. Faded Valentine
7. What’s Goin’ Wrong
8. Short Hair Woman
9. Same Old Stagolee
10. If I Was The Devil
11. Trouble Is
12. There Go A Fool
Justin Townes Earle on Tour:
April 27 – Santa Barbara, CA @ Lobero Theatre
April 28 – Indio, CA @ Stagecoach Festival
April 29 – Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom
April 30 – Tucson, AZ @ 191 Toole
May 3 – Dallas, TX @ Granada Theater
May 4 – Austin, TX @ ACL Live at the Moody Theater
May 5 – Houston, TX @ The Heights Theater
May 6 – Lafayette, LA @ Acadiana Center for the Arts
May 8 – Franklin, TN @ Franklin Theatre
May 9 – Asheville, NC @ Grey Eagle
May 11 – New York, NY @ Webster Hall
May 12 – Fall River, MA @ Narrows Center for the Arts
May 13 – Cambridge, MA @ The Sinclair
May 15 – Baltimore, MD @ Baltimore Soundstage
May 16 – Kent, OH @ The Kent Stage
May 17 – Ann Arbor, MI @ The Ark
May 18 – Bloomington, IL @ The Castle Theatre
May 19 – Louisville, KY @ Headliners
May 20 – Chicago, IL @ Thalia Hall
May 22 – Milwaukee, WI @ Turner Hall
May 23 – Minneapolis, MN @ First Avenue
May 24 – Iowa City, IA @ The Englert Theater
May 26 – Denver, CO @ The Bluebird Theater
May 27 – Bellvue, CO @ Mishawaka Amphitheatre
May 28 – Salt Lake City, UT @ The State Room
May 30 – Seattle, WA @ Neptune Theatre
May 31 – Portland, OR @ Aladdin Theater
June 2 – San Francisco, CA @ Slim’s
June 3 – Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey
June 4 – San Diego, CA @ Music Box
