As the back cover explains, the album Townes (a collection of Townes Van Zandt covers) was released in 2009 – but this LP collects the solo guitar and vocal tracks Earle originally recorded.

This was issued as a bonus CD – The Basics – along with the CD release of Townes, but then issued for the first time on vinyl in 2021.

As a tremendous fan of both Earle and Van Zandt, as well as a fan of cover albums and stripped down acoustic versions, it was a no brainer to get this direct from New West.