''Townes'' is the 13th studio

album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

by American singer-songwriter

Steve Earle Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, author, and actor. Earle began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982. Initially working in the country music g ...

, released in 2009. It is an album on which he pays tribute to his friend and mentor, the late singer-songwriter

Townes Van Zandt John Townes Van Zandt (March 7, 1944 – January 1, 1997) was an American singer-songwriter.

by covering his songs. According to a

New West Records New West Records is a record label based in Nashville, Tennessee, and Athens, Georgia. It had offices in Burbank, California, and Beverly Hills, California. The label was established in 1998 by Cameron Strang "for artists who perform real music ...

press release, "The songs selected for ''Townes'' were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to (not including selections featured on previous Earle albums). Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career (" Pancho & Lefty", "Lungs" and "White Freightliner Blues") and others he had to learn specifically for recording.Blackstock, Peter
"Details on Steve Earle's album of Townes Van Zandt covers"
NoDepression.com, March 9, 2009 Notable guest appearances on the album include

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello ...

(of

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

Audioslave Audioslave was an American Rock music, rock supergroup (music), supergroup formed in Glendale, California, in 2001. The four-piece band consisted of Soundgarden's lead singer and rhythm guitarist Chris Cornell with Rage Against the Machine membe ...

Street Sweeper Social Club Street Sweeper Social Club is an American rap rock supergroup, formed in Los Angeles, California in 2006. The band primarily consists of guitarist Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine and vocalist and emcee Boots Riley of The Coup. The band ...

) playing electric guitar on "Lungs", and Earle's wife

Allison Moorer Allison Moorer (born June 21, 1972) is an American singer/songwriter. She signed with MCA Nashville in 1997 and made her debut on the U.S. Billboard Country Chart with the release of her debut single, “A Soft Place To Fall,” which she co-wr ...

singing backing vocals on "Loretta" and "To Live Is to Fly". Earle and his son,

Justin Townes Earle Justin Townes Earle (January 4, 1982August 20, 2020) was an American singer-songwriter and musician. After his debut, EP ''Yuma'' (2007), he released eight full-length albums. He was recognized with an Americana Music Award for Emerging Artist ...

trade verses on "Mr. Mudd & Mr. Gold". He is backed by The Bluegrass Dukes on "White Freightliner Blues" and "Delta Momma Blues". This album won

Best Contemporary Folk Album The Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album was awarded from 1987 to 2011. Until 1991 the award was known as the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Recording. In 2007, this category was renamed Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album. As ...

at the

52nd Grammy Awards The 52nd Annual Grammy Awards took place on January 31, 2010, at Staples Center in Los Angeles honoring the best in music for the recording year beginning October 1, 2008 through September 30, 2009. Neil Young was honored as the 2010 MusiCares Pe ...

.Steve Earle
Encyclopædia Britannica A two disc CD version included a subset of the songs performed solo by Earle. This bonus set was also released on vinyl for

Record Store Day Record Store Day is an annual event inaugurated in 2007 and held on one Saturday (typically the third) every April and every Black Friday in November to "celebrate the culture of the independently owned record store". The day brings together fa ...

Track listing

Disc One: Townes

Disc Two: The Basics

(included in 2-CD version)

Personnel

* Steve Christensen - percussion, audio engineer * Shad Cobb - fiddle *

Dennis Crouch Dennis David Crouch (born April 30, 1975 in Columbia, South Carolina) is an American patent attorney who worked for McDonnell Boehnen Hulbert & Berghoff LLP (MBHB) in Chicago, Illinois, until 2007.Dennis Crouch''Thank you MBHB, Hello Missouri!'' ...

- bass *

- guitar, vocals *

- vocals *

- electric guitar *

Greg Morrow Greg Morrow is an American drummer, percussionist, session musician, mixing engineer, and vocalist. Biography Morrow was born in Ripley, Tennessee and raised in Memphis. At age 11, Morrow and his band performed on a local TV show, and he par ...

- drums * Tim O'Brien - mandolin *

Darrell Scott James Darrell Scott, known as Darrell Scott (born August 6, 1959), is an American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist. The son of musician Wayne Scott, he moved as a child to East Gary, Indiana (known today as Lake Station, Indiana). ...

- banjo, resonator guitar *

John Spiker Tenacious D is an American comedy rock duo formed in Los Angeles, California in 1994. It was founded by actors Jack Black and Kyle Gass, who were members of The Actors' Gang theater company at the time. The duo's name is derived from "tenaci ...

- electric bass * Steve Earle - vocals, guitar, mandola, harmonica, harmonium

Chart performance

References

{{Authority control 2009 albums Steve Earle albums Albums produced by Steve Earle Townes Van Zandt tribute albums New West Records albums