Artist Profiles: Steve Earle

Steve Earle is a highly influential songwriter and singer. He is also a progressive and when he sees injustice in the world he is the first to call it out in his music. His albums Jerusalem, Just an American Boy and the ever-popular The Revolution Starts…Now are all political protests directed at President Bush and the war in Iraq.

Stephen Fain Earle was born on 17 January 1955 in Ft. Monroe, Virginia and by the time he realized he wanted to become a musician he moved to Nashville, Tennessee. In Nashville, Steve played in various bands to support himself. Steve’s first known professional recording was with Guy Clark on Guy’s 1975 album Old No. 1. Steve sang backing vocals (along with Rodney Crowell Sammy Smith and Emmylou Harris) on the song Desperados Waiting For A Train.

From 1982-1985, Steve recorded some rockabilly tracks for Epic but Epic did a poor job promoting him and the singles had little success. The songs from a 7″ vinyl EP released in 1982, Pink & Black later showed up in Earle’s debut album Guitar Town (1986) and as Early Tracks (1987).

The songs in the rockabilly genre reinforced Steve’s reputation as an accomplished songwriter. Guitar Town was Steve Earle’s album debut, which led him into the charts and across the radio airwaves. The album reached No. 1 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart. Certified Platinum in Canada and Gold in the U.S., Guitar Town also features the songs “Goodbye’s All We Got Left,” which peaked at No. 8 on the Country Singles chart, as well as “Hillbilly Highway” and “Someday.”

Released in 1987, Earle’s follow-up album, Exit 0, was recorded with his touring band, The Dukes. The album hit the Top 20 of Billboard’s Country Albums chart. A single from the album, “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied,” made the Top 25 of Billboard’s Mainstream Rock chart.

Copperhead Road followed in 1988, achieving what Earle described as a mix of heavy metal and bluegrass. The album’s guest artists include The Pogues on “Johnny Come Lately,” Strength In Numbers’ Sam Bush (mandolin), Jerry Douglas (dobro), Mark O’Connor (violin), and Edgar Meyer (bass violin) on “Nothing But A Child,” Bill Lloyd of Foster & Lloyd on acoustic guitar, and guest vocalists including singer/songwriter Maria McKee and John Cowan of New Grass Revival. The album peaked at No. 7 on Billboard’s Country Albums chart, and went triple-Platinum in Canada and Gold in the United States.

Earle was again joined by The Dukes for 1990’s The Hard Way, the last album he released before a pause that stretched into four difficult years away from the studio and the stage. The album was recorded in Nashville while Earle was struggling with severe drug addiction. Earle later told an interviewer, “I defend The Hard Way to the death, because I almost died in the process of making it.” In 2015, the album’s song “When The People Find Out” was used as the end credits music for the HBO miniseries, “Show Me a Hero,” written by David Simon and William F. Zorzi and directed by Paul Haggis.

Transcendental Blues an album with a mix of rock bluegrass and Irish music was released on E-Squared/Artemis in June 2000.

2001 marked the release of Doghouse Roses his first collection of short stories. In the fall of 2002, the Broadaxe Theatre (the not-for-profit theatre company he co-founded in Nashville) debuted his first play titled Karla, about Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman executed in Texas since the Civil War.

He resided in Nashville for over 25 years and later relocated his home-base to The Village in New York City. In 2005 he won his first Grammy Award (Best Contemporary Folk Album) for The Revolution Starts…Now which was his 9th Grammy nomination.

Earle is also known for his work with several organizations to educate about and abolish the death penalty such as The Journey of Hope…from Violence to Healing; Citizens United for Alternatives to the Death Penalty; the Abolitionist Action Committee; the Tennessee Coalition to Abolish State Killing and Amnesty International. In addition to his work in opposition of the death penalty, he is active with the Vietnam Veterans’ Campaign for a Landmine Free World and the Kensington Welfare Rights Union.

Discography:

Guitar Town (MCA Records, 1986)
Exit 0 (MCA Records, 1987)
Copperhead Road (MCA Records, 1988)
The Hard Way (MCA Records, 1990)
Train a Comin’ (Warner Bros. Records, 1995)
I Feel Alright (Warner Bros. Records, 1996)
El Corazón (Warner Bros. Records, 1997)
Transcendental Blues (E-Squared Records, 2000)
Jerusalem (E-Squared/Artemis Records, 2002)
The Revolution Starts Now (E-Squared/Artemis Records, 2004)
Washington Square Serenade (New West Records, 2007)
Townes (New West Records, 2009)
I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive (New West Records, 2011)
The Low Highway (New West Records, 2013)
Terraplane (New West Records, 2015)
So You Wannabe An Outlaw (Warner Brothers, 2017)
Guy (New West Records, 2019)
Ghosts of West Virginia (New West Records, 2020)

Author: Angel Romero

Angel Romero y Ruiz has dedicated his life to musical exploration. His efforts included the creation of two online portals, worldmusiccentral.org and musicasdelmundo.com. In addition, Angel is the co-founder of the Transglobal World Music Chart, a panel of world music DJs and writers that celebrates global sounds. Furthermore, he delved into the record business, producing world music studio albums and compilations. His works have appeared on Alula Records, Ellipsis Arts, Indígena Records and Music of the World.
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