Absolutely gutted to hear of the passing of Justin Townes Earle. He was one of those songwriters that I turned to when I needed space or time to think, when that melancholy reflectiveness sometimes sneaks up and overwhelms you or when I needed a song that just knew how it was to try and, for whatever reason, not succeed.
I have a lot of favourite songs, but some of his are among my favourite, favourite songs.
Sad, sad day.
It was his weary heart that pushed him to the edge
He was tired of living life, looking for love
“A weary heart just needs a little touch
And is it too much to ask?”, he cried as he stepped into the wind
He turned his back on the world and he fell back to Earth again
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Loved his music as much as his dad’s… which is a LOT! Goddamned drug addiction. It’s an awful thing. Never got to see him live proper, but about 15 years ago, my wife and I were walking past a record store in Louisville and on a whim stopped in to pick up some tunes. To our great surprise, JTE was doing an in-store if front of probably only 15 people.
Watched about 4 or 5 tunes. Fantastic, of course. We chatted with him outside for a while after. He was a bit tightly wound and smoked cigarettes feverishly (!), but very charming and kind and down-to-earth. What really stuck out in my mind was that he told us we HAD to go see David Olney that night at such and such a club – I don’t remember the club but we did in fact go see Olney (who also passed recently). Embarrassed that an out-of-towner had to tell a proud musichead like me where I could find good music in my own town! Ha. He’ll be missed.
Thanks for this – saw him a couple of times (both great) but never got to say hello. He will be sorely missed…