April 8, 2022 (Los Angeles, CA) – On JERRY JEFF – set for May 27 release via New West Records – Steve Earle pays tribute to influential cowboy troubadour Jerry Jeff Walker, who passed away on October 23, 2021. After performing in Texas at a concert celebrating Walker’s life, Earle took his band, The Dukes, to Electric Lady Studios in New York, where they recorded 10 of Walker’s songs.
Today, Earle shared their freewheeling rendition of “Gettin’ By,” which is the album’s opening track. Adding a few personal twists to the lyrics, he admits to his greatest boyhood ambition: to be Jerry Jeff Walker.
“This record completes the set, the work of my first-hand teachers,” Earle writes in the liner notes, referencing 2009’s TOWNES and 2019’s GUY, which he made after the deaths of Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark.
“The records were recorded and released in the order in which they left this world. But make no mistake – it was Jerry Jeff Walker who came first,” says Earle.
Earle was 14 when he first heard Walker. His high school drama teacher gave him a copy of “Mr. Bojangles,” Walker’s classic ballad about an unforgettable character he met in a New Orleans jail. After Earle moved to Nashville in the 1970s, he had the opportunity to get to know Walker, who enlisted him as his designated driver.
“There’s a tendency to think of Jerry Jeff around a relationship to one song,” Earle says, referring to “Mr. Bojangles,” which was covered by everyone from Bob Dylan to Sammy Davis Jr. “He was also such a great interpreter of other people’s songs. But my main purpose in recording this album was to remind people that he wrote a lot of fucking great songs.”
Earle delivers a gorgeous, soulful “Mr. Bojangles” on JERRY JEFF, but also covers some of Walker’s lesser-known classics – meditative ballads like 1969’s “Old Road” and 1973’s “Wheel.” Other highlights include joyful takes of “Charlie Dunn,” Walker’s endearing tribute to the bootmaker, and “Gypsy Songman,” a stomping busking anthem. See below for track listing.
Fans can see Earle and The Dukes perform some of these songs live during their summer tour, which kicks off on June 1. They’ll also be playing tracks from Earle’s own rich catalog. See below for itinerary. Tickets are available HERE. Earle will also be performing at two special events: To Willie: A Birthday Celebration on May 1 at Willie Nelson’s Luck Ranch in Texas and the WFUV High Line Bash 2022 at City Winery at Pier 57 in New York City on May 13.
JERRY JEFF is Earle’s 22nd album. The three-time GRAMMY winner has released nearly an album a year since the mid-1990s, LPs ranging from bluegrass to blues to folk to country. His 2021 album, J.T., features the songs of his son Justin Townes Earle, a two-time Americana Music Awards winner who died in 2020 at age 38.
Restlessly creative across artistic disciplines, Earle has published the novel “I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive” and a collection of short fiction entitled “Doghouse Roses.” He has produced recordings of other artists including Lucinda Williams’ Grammy-winning “Car Wheels On A Gravel Road,” and acted in films and TV including a recurring role in the HBO series, The Wire. Earle is the host of the long-running “The Steve Earle Show: Hardcore Troubadour Radio” on SiriusXM. In 2020, Earle appeared in the Public Theatre production “Coal Country” for which he also wrote the music garnering him a Drama Desk Award nomination (“Coal Country” was revived in 2022). Songs from “Coal Country” are also included in Earle’s 2020 album Ghosts of West Virginia.
Steve Earle – JERRY JEFF Track Listing:
1. Gettin’ By
2. Gypsy Songman
3. Little Bird
4. I Make Money (Money Don’t Make Me)
5. Mr. Bojangles
6. Hill Country Rain
7. Charlie Dunn
8. My Old Man
9. Wheel
10. Old Road
Steve Earle & The Dukes – Tour Dates:
April 23rd — Nashville, TN — Grand Ole Opry*
May 1st — Spicewood, TX — To Willie: A Birthday Celebration @ Luck Ranch*
May 13th — New York, NY — WFUV Highline Bash 2022 @ City Winery at Pier 57*
June 1st — Decatur, AL — Princess Theatre
June 3rd — Nashville, IN — Brown County Music Center
June 4th — Warrendale, PA — Jergel’s Rhythm Grille
June 5th — Phoenixville, PA — Colonial Theatre
June 7th — Springfield, MO — Gillioz Theatre
June 9th — Wichita, KS — Cotillion Ballroom
June 10th — Council Bluffs, IA — Westfair Amphitheater w/Turnpike Troubadours
June 11th — Waite Park, MN — The Ledge w/Turnpike Troubadours
June 14th — Chester, NY — Sugar Loaf Performing Arts Center
June 16th — Torrington, CT — Warner Theatre
June 17th — Plymouth, NH — Flying Monkey Performance Center
June 18th — North Truro, MA — Payomet Performing Arts Center
June 19th — State College, PA — State Theatre
June 21st — Isle of Palms, SC — The Windjammer
June 23rd — New Orleans, LA — Tipitina’s
June 24th — New Braunfels, TX — Gruene Hall
June 25th — Fredericksburg, TX — The Backyard
July 1st — Rogers, AR — Outlaw Festival – Walmart Amphitheater
July 2nd — Dallas, TX — Outlaw Festival – Dos Equis Pavilion
July 4th — Austin, TX — Willie Nelson Picnic – Germania Amphitheater
July 7th — Deadwood, SD — Deadwood Mountain Grand Event Center
July 8th — Emigrant, MT — The Old Saloon
July 9th — Rexford, MT — Abayance Bay Marina
July 10th — Calgary, AB — Calgary Stampede
July 15th — Orillia, ON — Casino Rama Resort
July 16th — Oak Hill, NY — Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival
July 17th — East Greenwich, RI — Greenwich Odeum
July 19th — Annapolis, MD — Ramshead
July 20th — Alexandria, VA — The Birchmere
July 22nd — Marietta, OH — The Adelphia
July 23rd — Lexington, KY — The Burl
July 24th — Pelham, TN — The Caverns
July 26th — Memphis, TN — Lafayette’s Music Room
July 29th — Kansas City, MO — Knuckleheads Saloon
Aug. 1st — Aspen, CO — Belly Up
Aug. 3rd — Boulder, CO — Chautauqua Auditorium
Aug. 5th — Des Moines, IA — Hoyt Sherman Place
Aug. 6th — Madison, WI — Barrymore Theatre
Aug. 9th — Winnipeg, MB — Burton Cummings Theatre
Aug. 11th — Regina, SK — Casino Regina
Aug. 12th — Edmonton, AB — River Cree Resort and Casino
Aug. 13th — Grand Prairie, AB — Bear Creek Folk Music Festival
Aug. 23rd — Los Angeles, CA — Troubadour
Aug. 24th — Los Angeles, CA — Troubadour
Sept. 3rd — Weston, CO — Caveman Festival
Sept. 6-9 — Big Indian, NY — Camp Copperhead @ Full Moon Resort*
*Steve Earle will appear solo.
