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Justin Townes Earle released “Kids in the Street” in 2017. It opens with “Champagne Corolla,” a slinky and swampy appreciation of a fine young woman who drives a humble economy car. “She can run all week on just one tank/Goes to show you she’s got a head on her shoulders,” he sings. It’s far more common to write songs about fancy vehicles, and that’s what makes this one work.

Earle, who’s the son of singer/songwriter Steve Earle, probably has soaked up and internalized clever ways to make a song both familiar and distinctive. Like his dad, Earle mixes the Texas troubadour tradition (he was given his middle name in honor of Townes Van Zandt), with strands of New Orleans and early rock and country. The recent record was mostly a full-band affair, but Earle, 36, will be doing this string of dates as solo shows, where the songs will stand on their own.

Justin Townes Earle plays the Space Ballroom, 295 Treadwell St., Hamden, on Saturday, May 26, at 8 p.m. Tickets are $30. 203-288-6400, spaceballroom.com