Steve Earle
NewMusicforOldFolks says …
All some people know about Steve Earle is "Copperhead Road." That's a really good song, but there's a lot more to Earle than that one Classic Rock song. The truth is that song couldn't possibly be less like the rest of Earle's output. He skirts the line between Americana/Roots and Alternative Country not fitting completely into either genre, but respected enough in both to be claimed as an influence on people in both categories. Earle is not afraid to write about his political viewpoint. "Rich Man's War" from The Revolution Starts Now is, along with the Drive-By Truckers' "That Man I Shot," is one of the two best protest songs about the Iraq War. Earle's latest album, Terraplane, mostly leaves the politics on the side. "You're the Best Lover That I Ever Had" is a highlight.
Artist's Info
Website: steveearle.com
See him live: Tour dates
Record company: Mascot Label Group
Genre: Alternative Country, Roots
If you like this, look into: Lucinda Williams, Joe Ely, Dwight Yoakam
Bio (from the artist's website)
Almost 20 years ago, Steve Earle and I took a ride through South Nashville. It was down those mean streets that Steve had spent his famous “hiatus” in the early 1990s mostly shooting dope. It was a crazy, unprecedented thing. Here was a guy – the supposed “new face” of outlaw country – who had already put out a near unbroken string of instant classics, including chart hits like “Guitar Town,” “Someday,” and the immortal “Copperhead Road.” And he just up and disappears, drops from sight for four years, making no records, playing no shows. Many thought he was dead. (more)
Spotify sampler
Recordings
Most Recent
TERRAPLANE (2014): Terraplane takes its title from the 1930s Hudson Motor Car Company of Detroit model, which also inspired the Robert Johnson song “Terraplane Blues.” It is Earle’s 16th studio album since the release of his highly influential 1986 debut Guitar Town. As its title suggests, the album is very much a blues record, a third of which was written while Earle toured Europe alone for five weeks with just a guitar, a mandolin and a backpack. Earle, who was raised outside of San Antonio before migrating to Houston, offers about Texas blues, “There was Fort Worth where the model was Freddie King, and there was the Houston scene which was dominated by Lightnin’ Hopkins. Two very different styles.” He saw both of these giants, and was also exposed to Johnny Winter, Jimmie and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Billy Gibbons, all of which make their influence heard here within Earle’s masterful storytelling.
Others
Guitar Town (1986)
Exit 0 (1987)
Copperhead Road (1988)
The Hard Way (1990)
Train a Comin' (1995)
I Feel Alright (1986)
El Corazón (1997)
Transcendental Blues (2000)
Jerusalem (2002)
The Revolution Starts Now (2004)
Washington Square Serenade (2007)
Townes (2009)
I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (2011)
The Low Highway (2013)
