Justin Townes Earle: Harlem River Blues

The scion of troubadour Steve Earle, and named after doomed country bard Townes Van Zandt, Justin has heritage aplenty. This third album proves his most accomplished yet, a diverse piece of Americana whose songs focus on his new home of New York with a musical lexicon that's thoroughly southern (Earle was raised in Nashville). The title track is borne along by a Baptist choir, "Move Over Mama" is unreconstructed rockabilly, and "Working For the MTA" (NY's railways) is a blue-collar ballad with purring steel guitar. There are echoes of Guthrie and Springsteen, but at 28, Earle's clear, considered voice is clearly his own.