The son of original country bad boy Steve Earle and the quasi-namesake of the late Townes Van Zandt, Justin Townes Earle (appearing alongside fellow countrified acts Bruce Robison and Kelly Willis) has got smarts and sass in abundance. And yet he's also blessed with a deep knowledge of musical forebears outside the family.
These attributes come together in The Good Life, his debut for the Bloodshot imprint, which sports intriguingly ambiguous numbers such as "Who Am I to Say" that go beyond promise to notable achievement.