Earlier this week, Americana songwriter Justin Townes Earle died. He was 38 years old. It’s incredibly sad – first and foremost for his family and friends, and also for music lovers everywhere. We lost a great songwriter. Back in 2015, I met Earle at soundcheck in Paradiso Amsterdam for a session. Due to a miscommunication, I ended up with just some test footage, shot while setting up. But, we did take some photos and had a nice talk about a lot of things in the space of ten minutes. Of course I was disappointed we didn’t get the session we hoped for, so I had not looked back at all since. Until this week, and I was surprised to find footage of almost all of the cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Dreams’ that Earle and Paul Niehaus played.

The shots aren’t amazing, mind you, I was just trying things out to decide how I’d film it later. And the audio is just what the camera recorded. But still, I think it’s worth posting. Because it’s beautiful and Earle deserves to get as many tributes as possible. Luckily, his label New West Records gave me the go-ahead.

In 2015, I was still pretty new to Justin Townes Earle’s music, but since then his records have been a regular in my house. ‘The Good Life’ (with Amanda Shires on the cover), Midnight At The Movies, Harlem River Blues – all released between 2008 and 2010 – formed a great start. And his my recent records ‘Kids In The Street’ and ‘The Saint Of Lost Causes’ might actually be some of his best, in my regard.

I won’t waste too many words, please watch the video and afterwards put on one of Earle’s records. All my best to his family, friends and colleagues.

“Troubled days are behind me now and I know they’re gonna let me in.”

Justin Townes Earle

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There is no better way to discover music than watching great musicians cover the songs they love. The Influences has been producing these videos ever since 2008.

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