Let's get real here — lots of what makes the "country" charts (in case you haven't noticed) sounds like watered-down power-pop with some vague twang added for "authenticity." Most of these pretty boys/girls wouldn't know Buck Owens from Buck Rogers — but this Justin Townes Earle knows, I'll wager. If his name sounds familiar, yes, he's the son of alt-country/bluegrass dynamo Steve Earle, but he's most definitely not some callow kid riding the family coattails. If anything, he conjures suggestions of Hank Williams Sr. (especially vocally) far more than his padre, especially on the classic-to-be honky-tonk shuffle "What Do You Do When You're Lonesome." The insanely catchy "Hard Livin'" has the... More >>>