Singer/songwriters - old hats and new - step into spotlight

The fourth annual Sea Level Singer/Songwriter Festival will kick off tonight with a concert by Americana artist Justin Townes Earle at 7:30 p.m. at the Naro Expanded Cinema in Norfolk.

The Tidewater Arts Outreach-sponsored event will also feature an Emerging Artist Showcase at the Chrysler Museum of Art.

Earle, 29, describes his music as Southern American tinged with blues, gospel and rock 'n' roll. He began writing in his early teens, then got his start playing honky-tonks in Nashville. Creative writing classes in elementary school piqued his interest in storytelling, and that's where his writing began to flourish. "I won several little competitions for writing short stories," he said.

Because his performance is a tour stop, Earle won't get to see the Emerging Artist Showcase competition. "We don't really have time to hang around festivals, but I have been hanging around festivals since my early teens," he said. "The good part about them is that you do get to meet a lot of people and hear short sets."

In September, he released "Harlem River Blues."

"I have arrived at a writing style that fits me more. It's just a different level of confidence. There's less guesswork with 'Harlem River Blues,' where with 'Midnight at the Movies' I was still trying things," Earle said.

He credits Woody Guthrie as his hero. "He kind of invented the jobs of singer/songwriter. He is the end-all be-all of it, especially for anyone wanting to start from the ground up."

Earle made a guest appearance as a guitarist with his roots-rocker father, Steve Earle, on the HBO television series "Treme." The younger Earle said his schedule is too crowded to work on more projects with his father. "Even though it would be of high interest to music dorks and musicians for me and my father to make a record, it would not make a difference to the general public," he said.

In 2009, Earle won the Americana Music Award for best new and emerging artist. In 2010, he was named one of GQ magazine's most fashionable men along with LeBron James, David Beckham, Jay-Z and others.

"I like my clothes. I spend a lot of money on them, so I'm glad somebody noticed," he said.

The Emerging Artist Showcase will be held from 7 to 9:30 p.m. Saturday at the Kaufman Theatre in the Chrysler Museum of Art. Performing for a panel of judges to become finalists are 10 local singers and songwriters: James Arellano, Issac Gay, Kevin Kelley, Jenn Lawyer, Melanie Howdershell, Roy Moats, John Roberts, Nate Sacks, Landon Tucker and Harvey Willis.

Patty Jenkins, (757) 446-2298, patty.jenkins@pilotonline.com