Steve Earle & The Dukes Jerry Jeff

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, Steve took his band, The Dukes, to Electric Lady Studios in New York, where they recorded 10 of Walker’s songs. “This record completes the set, the work of my first-hand teachers,” Steve 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. 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.