You know impressively bearded alt-country OG Steve Earle is a good guy because he helped Bubbles through rehab on __ The Wire__. So he didn't need to solidify his good-guy status any further by recording an album in tribute to the late country-folk cult hero Townes Van Zandt. But Earle's done it anyway. That's just how he rolls.

On May 12, New West will release Townes , Earle's tribute to his friend and mentor. The album will also be available as a deluxe two-CD set and on 180-gram vinyl. That's the cover above.

According to a press release, Earle and Van Zandt first met when Van Zandt heckled an Earle show in 1972, the sort of thing that must be a total nightmare for most singer-songwriters. But the two stayed tight until Van Zandt's death in 1997.

Dust Brother John King, who produced Earle's 2007 album * Washington Square Serenade*, mans the boards on one song, "Lungs". On that same song, Rage Against the Machine's Tom Morello guests on guitar. (And yes, he does play one of those wikki-wikki turntable-scratch solos, but it sort of works.) Singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, Earle's wife, sings backup on "To Live Is to Fly" and "Loretta". Earle also recruited a backing band of bluegrass all-stars to play on several songs. And duetting on "Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold": Earle's son Justin Townes Earle, appearing on record with his dad for the first time. (Earle really must've loved the guy if he named his kid after him.)

In the album's press release, Earle has this to say: "This may be one of the best records I've ever made. That hurts a singer-songwriter's feelings. Then again, it's some consolation that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriters that ever lived." Aww.

You have to admire Earle for recording an entire Townes Van Zandt tribute album and not including [ "If I Needed You"](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bl41lqUFKS4 ""If I Needed You"" ). That takes some balls.

In other Earle news, he'll play two shows at Chicago's Old Town School of Folk Music on April 4 and 5.

Here's a stream of Earle's cover of Van Zandt's "Lungs", featuring Tom Morello on guitar:

Townes :

01 Pancho and Lefty

02 White Freightliner Blues

03 Colorado Girl

04 Where I Lead Me

05 Lungs

06 No Place to Fall

07 Loretta

08 Brand New Companion

09 Rake

10 Delta Momma Blues

11 Marie

12 Don't Take It Too Bad

13 Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold

14 (Quicksilver Daydreams of) Maria

15 To Live Is to Fly