Steve Earle

[Jahfin]

New interview with Steve Earle from Option magazine:

He’ll never get out of this world alive…

By Al Maginnes

…but when he sheds this mortal coil, Steve Earle — the legendary singer, songwriter, playwright, actor, activist and now novelist — will likely be clean and sober, and he’ll definitely leave behind a prodigious body of work. Award-winning poet Al Maginnes talks to Earle about his new album and book, and his amazing transformation from a drug-damaged songwriting genius to a clear, focused and tireless renaissance man.

Steve Earle is a hard dog to keep under the porch. In the quarter-century since his debut Guitar Town burst out of the gates, Earle has had a number of careers. He began as the teenaged “kid” of the Townes Van Zandt-Guy Clark songwriting nexus in Austin and Nashville, playing on Clark’s classic 1975 song “Desperadoes Waiting for a Train.” But by the late ’80s, the excesses of Earle’s early career as a country-singing road dog had evaporated into several years of drug haze that saw him serve a brief jail sentence in the early ’90s. His renaissance was spectacular, and since 1995 he’s worked tirelessly – as a singer, songwriter, political activist, playwright, actor and, in his most recent incarnation, a novelist. In 2005 he married fellow singer/songwriter Allison Moorer; the couple’s first child, John Henry Earle, turned one in April. When I caught up with him, Earle had just released his new album, I’ll Never Get Out of this World Alive (named for the great Hank Williams song), and his novel of the same name was poised for publication.

The album explores Earle’s acoustic and electric leanings. Never one to stick with a single style, he’s written songs over the years that were at home on both country and rock radio, recorded a set of original bluegrass music with the Del McCoury Band, and even used a DJ on his tour for 2007′s Washington Square Serenade. The new album, produced by T Bone Burnett, is a series of meditations on life, mortality and the boundaries of human behavior.

The novel, while not a companion piece, explores many of the same issues. Its protagonist, Doc Ebersole, is a morphine addict and back-alley abortionist who was drinking buddies with Hank Williams and was, in fact, in the car with Williams when he died. The book is set in the early ‘60s in San Antonio, Texas, around the time of John F. Kennedy’s assassination, and covers everything from addiction to redemption. Like the narrative of his music and life, the novel embraces the contradictions that make Steve Earle one of the most important and interesting artists of the Information Age.

To read the interview click here.

[dazedcat]

I remember playing Copperhead Road to death when it was first released in the late 80's. That was a great record. I've sort of lost touch with his music over the years but the man is truly a great talent. To be honest I'm happy to see he's alive and well.

[Jahfin]

I remember playing Copperhead Road to death when it was first released in the late 80's. That was a great record. I've sort of lost touch with his music over the years but the man is truly a great talent. To be honest I'm happy to see he's alive and well.

I think he dropped off of a lot of people's radars after that record but truth be told, some of his best work ever came after his jail time beginning with Train A' Comin' and continuing through El Corazon.

[Jahfin]

Vintage performance of "Copperhead Road" from Letterman when the album was first released in the late 80s:

[Silver Rider]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=clrSTK6AOgc&feature=relatedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5j8VmhyfdAU&feature=related

[dazedcat]

Vintage performance of "Copperhead Road" from Letterman when the album was first released in the late 80s:

Man oh man, I actualy remember that performance on Letterman's show..........great post. Thanks.

[Jahfin]

Man oh man, I actualy remember that performance on Letterman's show..........great post. Thanks.

I have it etched in my memory and hadn't seen it in 23 years. I remembered Letterman making a big deal about the electrified mandolin so it was very nice to refresh my memory.

[Silver Rider]

Nice cover of Dave Dudley's song.