Wanda Jackson records new disc with Justin Townes Earle

This is Jackson's 31st studio album and marks the producing debut of Justin Townes Earle. Of working with Earle, Jackson said, "From day one I really liked Justin's idea to take me back to my roots and make a record of country, blues and rockabilly songs. The band was extra tight and great to work with during the whole process. The record just sounds terrific, and I'm hoping that my fans enjoy listening to it as much as I enjoyed making it."

Recorded in Nashville at House of David Studios in early 2012, the 10-song album features renditions of California Stars (an unfinished Woody Guthrie song with music later added by Wilco's Jay Bennett and Jeff Tweedy), Pushover (Billy Davis and Tony Clarke), It's All Over Now (Bobby Womack and Shirley Jean Womack) as well as a duet with Earle on Am I Even A Memory (Greg Garing).

Songs on the CD are:
1. I'm Tore Down
2. The Graveyard Shift
3. Am I Even a Memory (featuring Justin Townes Earle)
4. Pushover
5. It's All Over Now
6. Two Hands
7. Old Weakness
8. What Do You Do When You're Lonesome
9. Down Past the Bottom
10. California Stars

The new album follows Jackson's 2011 Jack White-produced "The Party Ain't Over," which received both widespread critical and commercial acclaim.

Jackson embarks on a series of performances this fall, including a special show at New York's Highline Ballroom on Oct. 12 with additional dates will be announced shortly.

The Queen of Rockabilly is credited with being the first woman to ever record a rock and roll song-Let's Have a Party in 1958. In 2009, Jackson was inducted into the

More news

• 06/11/24: Earle is "All In"
• 08/20/21: Wanda Jackson, Simpson, McMurtry, Booth, Williams lead new releases
• 06/28/21: Rockabilly queen Jackson gives an "Encore"
• 12/01/20: Earle dies of fentanyl-related overdose
• 09/16/20: Steve Earle announces tribute album to his late son
• 08/24/20: Justin Townes Earle passes away at 38
• 04/03/19: Earle takes on "The Saint of Lost Causes"
• 03/27/19: Wanda Jackson retires from touring

CD reviews

The Saint of Lost Causes

When your Dad's Steve Earle and your namesake is Townes Van Zandt, you probably aren't destined to be a shoemaker. A native of Music City, Justin Townes Earle ate well from the horn of plenty that is the Nashville scene. He kicked around in some bands, but also generally raised a lot of hell. Around 2007, he started releasing albums regularly - "Saint of Lost Causes" is his eighth release and the first since 2017's critically well-received "Kids In the Street. ...

Kids in the Street

With "Kids In The Street," Justin Townes Earle moves comfortably between country, blues, folk and rock. The strongest country tunes are the traditional sounding weeper "What's She Crying For," featuring slick pedal steel guitar work from Paul Niehaus, and the catchy ballad "Faded Valentine," a sweetly melancholic tale of lost love that highlights producer Mike Mogis on mandolin. The nostalgic title track finds Earle reminiscing about his unspectacular childhood ...

Absent Fathers

Fans of the early Justin Townes Earle might be disappointed in the work that fills "Absent Fathers," his 2015 album that shows the once reckless outlaw-wannabe has grown up past the anger and found a home in therapeutic songwriting. For the rest of listeners, however, it's a cathartic and thought-provoking journey through his atonement, not with his muddy past, but instead with his own pain. Earle's voice hints of the same grittiness found in Black Keys front man Dan ...