with justin townes earle's pedigree come mixed blessings. as the son of legendary singer /songwriter steve earle, high expectations are the name of the game, and he's shown that he is up to the task on the good life, crafting stark portraits and narrative tales with elements of blues, classic country and rock n' roll. a modern-day troubadour, earle blends genres seamlessly, framing his songs in warm musical settings and creating tunes that could easily be mistaken for classics. joining earle in the studio are a cast of all-star players including longtime cohort cory younts (bobby bare, jr) on banjo and mandolin, pedal steel player pete finney (dixie chicks, patty loveless), bassist bryn davies (patty grifin, guy clark), drummer bryan owings (buddy miller, shelby lynne), keyboardist skylar wilson and fiddle player josh hedley.