Sammy Brue’s new album The Journals arrives with a rare sense of purpose. Built from never before recorded songs found in the journals of Justin Townes Earle, the record serves as both tribute and continuation. Entrusted to Brue by Earle’s widow, the material included lyric sheets, unfinished verses, and fragments of ideas that Brue carefully shaped into complete songs, sometimes finishing Earle’s words and other times writing alongside them in spirit. The result feels intimate, thoughtful, and deeply respectful of the source.

Rather than treating the project like a historical exercise, Brue approached The Journals as living work. These songs breathe with his own voice while staying rooted in Earle’s writing style and emotional clarity. There is restraint here, not reverence that turns stiff, but a quiet confidence that allows the songs to unfold naturally. It is the sound of a songwriter listening closely, then responding with care.

Brue has long carried the lineage of American folk and outlaw songwriting, drawing from the same well that fed Guy Clark, Townes Van Zandt, Rodney Crowell, and Earle himself. On The Journals, that lineage feels especially direct. Brue’s writing remains grounded in story and character, with melodies that serve the lyric instead of overpowering it. His vocals are clear and expressive, never overplayed, letting the weight of the words do their work.

That maturity has been evident since Brue first appeared on the national radar as a teenager, earning early attention from Rolling Stone and later signing with New West Records for I Am Nice and Crash Test Kid. His independent release Nocturnal Country further established him as a songwriter committed to craft over trend. Touring with Justin Townes Earle at a young age, and later sharing stages with artists like Billy Strings, Lucinda Williams, Lindsey Buckingham, Steve Earle, and Margo Price, helped sharpen his instincts as a working musician.

The Journals stands as one of Brue’s most meaningful statements to date. For longtime fans of Justin Townes Earle, the album offers a reconnection to a voice that still resonates. For Brue, it reinforces his place as a songwriter capable of honoring tradition while carrying it forward, quietly and with conviction.