Steve Earle News: Washington Square Serenade

July 2nd, 2007 by Pete

Thanks to Jeffro for alerting us that New West Records has announced details of Steve Earle’s first record with the label. Due September 25th, and titled Washington Square Serenade, it will feature the CD and a bonus DVD of Steve taking us on a walking tour of Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, as well as some documentary footage.

Steve’s wife Allison Moorer duets with him on a tune, and Brazilian / NYC group Forro in the Dark joins him on “City of Immigrants”.

The track list is as follows. As you’ll see, he gives me a shout out on this album with “Steve’s Hammer (for Pete)”. ‘Bout time!

Track List:
“Tennessee Blues”
“Down Here Below”
“Satellite Radio”
“City of Immigrants”
“Sparkle and Shine”
“Come Home to Me”
“Jericho Road”
“Oxycontin Blues”
“Red Is the Color”
“Steve’s Hammer (For Pete)”
“Days Aren’t Long Enough”
“Way Down in the Hole”

Steve fans, mark your calendars for September 25th. Speaking of Steve and September, I’ll be catching Steve at the Austin City Limits Music Festival. Yiieeahh…

Posted in Roots Rock, Steve Earle | 2 Comments »

Steve Earle on Bob Harris Country

April 15th, 2007 by Pete

I have to get a hold of one of those shirts.

From the 2000 Transcendental Blues Tour, here’s a nice set from Coventry, England. It’s part of a BBC radio broadcast called Bob Harris Country. A nice snapshot of the opening set list at the time. Take it Dukes…

Steve Earle and the Dukes
“Bob Harris Country”
Warwick University
Coventry, UK
May 25th, 2000

01. Transcendental Blues
02. Everyone’s In Love With You
03. Another Town
04. I Can Wait
05. Steve’s Last Ramble
06. I Feel Alright
07. Lonelier Than This
08. I Don’t Want To Lose You Yet
09. The Galway Girl
10. Copperhead Road
11. South Nashville Blues
12. All Of My Life
13. The Unrepentant

Buy Transcendental Blues:

Posted in Roots Rock, Steve Earle | 3 Comments »

New Steve Earle: Goodbye Guitar Town

March 21st, 2007 by Pete

Sunset in my mirror
Pedal on the floor
Bound for New York City
And I won’t back no more

And so begins Steve Earle’s new tune, “Goodbye Guitar Town”. He dropped into Austin’s KUT radio station last week for a nice interview and a couple of acoustic tunes, including this new one. Steve is back to his acoustic Townes Van Zandt-like, finger-pickin’ form with this tune. He’s called New York City’s Greenwich Village home for a few years now, and as he sings about in this song, NYC is home.

Listening to the interview got me excited about the new album (his first release for New West Records). He’s working with John King, who makes up half of the Dust Brothers (Beck, Beastie Boys). Steve said he’s “tested positive for Pro Tools“, which is a departure for him, and he’s working exclusively with John, vs. a band.

So there’s a lot to look forward to as a Steve Earle fan. Check out the full 38 minute interview here on the KUT Site.

Steve Earle: Goodbye Guitar Town (mp3) - live in studio, KUT Austin

Buy Steve Earle music:

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Steve Earle at Tradewinds, Part Deux

January 26th, 2007 by Pete

“They’ll let anybody in here!” - Steve Earle, as The Boss joins him on stage

Well who do you think was lurking in the crowd that fateful New Jersey night? The Boss joined Steve and the Dukes for the last six songs of the evening. That’s gotta be one of the greatest things about being a Springsteen fan in New Jersey. You never know when he’ll materialize.

Well materialize he did this night in 1998. It’s another spirited set by Steve and the Dukes, and when the Boss joins, they rip into a Carl Perkins classic, a couple of Stones tunes, and a few Steve tunes. Bruce pretty much sticks to his rule of not stealing the spotlight, but he does take a verse of “Everybody’s Trying to Be My Baby”, and how cool is it to hear him sing background on “I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” and the Stones tunes? Right. Very cool.

Steve Earle & the Dukes
February 6, 1998
Sea Bright, NJ

Part Two

The Other Side Of Town
Somewhere Out There
Billy Austin
The Devil’s Right Hand
Nothin’ But You
All My Tears (w/ Julie Miller)
Goodbye
Johnny Too Bad (Slickers cover)
N.Y.C.
The Unrepentant
Everybody’s Trying To Be My Baby (Carl Perkins cover w/ Bruce Springsteen)
Sweet Virginia (Rolling Stones cover w/ Bruce Springsteen)
Guitar Town (w/ Bruce Springsteen)
I Ain’t Never Satisfied (w/ Bruce Springsteen)
Dead Flowers (Rolling Stones w/ Bruce Springsteen)
Johnny Come Lately (w/ Bruce Springsteen)

One interesting omission from the night was Bruce’s “State Trooper”, which Steve plays quite a bit in his shows. “New Jersey turnpike, riding on a wet night…” would’ve fit right in.

Posted in Roots Rock, Steve Earle | 4 Comments »

Steve Earle at Tradewinds, Part 1

January 24th, 2007 by Pete

I haven’t posted about my favorite left-wing Tennessee via Mexico via East Texas outlaw in a while. Steve Earle hasn’t been quiet lately though. He’s a modern-day renaissance man: musician, poet, protester, playwright, you name it. He jokes that he has to keep himself that busy to keep him sober. He wasn’t doing so good there for a while (in the late 80’s and early 90’s). Well, since he got sober, and inspiration took over, Steve has been hitting us hard with some great albums: I Feel Alright, Train a Comin’, El Corazon, Jerusalem, among others. In ‘98, Steve was on tour supporting one of my personal favorites, El Corazon (a tour that didn’t bring him to Phoenix, so I flew my butt to Montrose, Colorado to see him - well, actually my brother flew me).

This is a special show, folks. The locale is Tradewinds in Sea Bright, New Jersey. It’s February 6, 1998, and a certain someone is lurking in the audience watching this great show. I’ll give you part one here. In part two later this week, this certain someone hits the stage with Mr. Earle to fully complete roof tearage off the sucker.

Steve Earle & the Dukes
February 6, 1998
Sea Bright, NJ

Part One

Christmas In Washington
Here I Am
Taneytown
Hardcore Troubador
My Old Friend The Blues
Someday
If You Fall
Mystery Train Part II
You Know The Rest
Windfall (Son Volt cover)
Copperhead Road
Telephone Road
More Than I Can Do
Now She’s Gone
Ft. Worth Blues
I Feel Alright
Poison Lovers

In recent Steve Earle news, he signed with New West Records recently. I’m looking forward to good things in ‘07 from ol’ Steve.

Posted in Roots Rock, Steve Earle | 4 Comments »

Allison Moorer meets Mr. Earle

June 19th, 2006 by Pete

I have two words for Steve Earle: You dog!! He must have the charms of Casanova, because he continues to seduce the ladies into taking his hand in marriage. His latest - sixth, seventh, eighth? - bride is none other than the lovely and very talented Allison Moorer. I’m not privy to the story behind their courtship, but they spent Steve’s last tour together with Allison in the opening slot. Steve also produced Allison’s latest release, ‘Getting Somewhere’, which was released last Tuesday (June 13) on Sugar Hill Records.

From the the three tracks I’ve heard, it certainly has that Earle / Twangtrust vibe to it, and - well, I eat that stuff right up like a pint of Cherry Garcia. You certainly hear it on “Fairweather”, which was co-written by Earle. Driving pounding drums, those crunchy guitar riffs…

Allison made quite a splash in 1998, when her song “A Soft Place to Fall” was included on the soundtrack to ‘The Horse Whisperer’ (one of the best soundtracks I own). That same year, her debut, ‘Alabama Song’ was released on MCA Records.

Allison and her older sister, Shelby Lynne (also a country-esque singer/songwriter) overcame quite a tragic event in their childhood to find success in the Nashville music scene. When they were both teenagers, their alcoholic father shot and killed their mother in the driveway of their Alabama home, and then turned the gun on himself - all while Shelby and Allison looked on. Shelby, who was 17 at the time, raised Allison for the remaining years of her adolescence. Sickening and tragic to even comprehend, but Shelby and Allison have persevered.

What I like about Allison (and her sister) are their refusal to bow down to the Nashville Country Machine, which churns out the cookie cutter singers as products, ruled by the almighty dollar (which country radio eats right up). I like the Nashville rebels, and Allison’s link-up with Steve Earle (in the musical and poetic sense) confirms what I knew I liked about her: artistic integrity and a perpetual middle finger to the “system” (even though Steve Earle sold “The Revolution Starts Now” to a Chevy commercial, but I choose to overlook that).

So take a listen to some Allison Moorer music. Here’s the song from the ‘Horse Whisperer’…

Allison Moorer: A Soft Place to Fall (mp3) - from The Soundtrack to the Horse Whisperer.

And here’s some RealPlayer goodness from her latest album, ‘Getting Somewhere’, her second release on Sugar Hill Records.

Allison Moorer: Fairweather (rm) | New Year’s Day (rm) | How She Does It (rm) - RealPlayer is required for these three

• Buy ‘Getting Somewhere’ from Sugar Hill Records or Amazon.
• Check out Allison’s Official Site.
• Check out the must for artists these days, her MySpace page - home to teeniebobbers and musicians!

Posted in Country, Roots Rock, Steve Earle | 1 Comment »

Marah and Steve Earle play the TLA

April 27th, 2006 by Pete

One of the best concert weeks of my life was seeing Steve Earle play the West Hollywood House of Blues in the summer of 2000 with Marah as their opening act. A week later, I saw Marah at the small, sweat soaked Long Wongs in Tempe, AZ. Marah was hitting the road behind their great album ‘Kids in Philly’, which was released on Steve’s label, E Squared.

Thanks to Steve Earle, I became a big Marah fan, and remain so today (just saw them as they came through Phoenix in January).

In October of 1999, it was Marah’s coming out of sorts, as they joined Steve at a benefit for the Kensington Welfare Rights Union, playing the Theater of the Living Arts in Philadelphia, PA.

Marah w/ Steve Earle
Theatre of Living Arts, Philadelphia PA
October 16th, 1999

Want this show? Click here.

Intro by Steve Earle / Christian Street/ Head On
Catfisherman
Where The Dark Horses Go
Sleepwalk > Reservation Girl
My Heart Is The Bums On The Street
Point Breeze
The History Of Where Someone Has Been Killed
Faraway You
I Feel Alright*
Transcendental Blues*
State Trooper* [a couple of skips near the beginning.. sorry!]
West Nashville Boogie*
Ohio*
(* w/ Steve Earle)

Bonus: Marah: Livin on the Road (mp3)

• buy Marah music
• buy Steve Earle music

Posted in Rock, Steve Earle | 2 Comments »

Malo, Flaco and Earle

January 26th, 2006 by Pete

I love the Mavericks. Love the sound of lead singer Raul Malo’s voice. “All You Ever Do is Bring Me Down” rose out of my mp3 shuffle today. Tex-Mex superstar accordionist Flaco Jimenez adds his signature playing to the tune.

The Mavericks: All You Ever Do Is Bring Me Down (mp3) - from The Definitive Collection

That led me to listen to Flaco’s early 90’s group the Texas Tornados. The group also consisted of Freddy Fender, Doug Sahm, and Augie Meyers.

Texas Tornados: Adios Mexico (mp3) - from The Best of the Texas Tornados

That song led me, for obvious reasons (you’ll know when you hear both tunes), to Steve Earle. If you take Adios Mexico’s traditional Tex-Mex accordion riff, strap a NASA booster rocker to it, and turn the amp up to 11, you get this:

Steve Earle: What’s a Simple Man To Do (mp3) - from Jerusalem

Posted in Roots Rock, Steve Earle | 2 Comments »

Mister Earle and his post big house blues

October 2nd, 2005 by Pete

Sundays are for playing music that matches your end of the weekend BLAHS. This tune has been my woe-is-me companion since I discovered Steve in the mid-90’s thanks to the formerly good Phoenix radio station KZON (a station whose only saving grace these days is their 4 hours of Howard Stern every morning).

I got the chance to see Steve around that time at the now defunct Rockin Horse saloon in Scottsdale (burned to the ground I think). Steve had just completed his stint in the big house due to his recurring problems with drugs, and he was embarking on the best musical journey of his career. His first album after the drug & jail adventures was ‘Train a Comin’, released in 1995. It was an acoustic journey made up of old and new songs alike, as well as a great covers of “I’m Looking Through You”, “Rivers of Baylon”, and “Tecumseh Valley”. The highlight of the album for me though - due to my fondness for the melancholy tunes - is “Goodbye”.

Last verse:

I only miss you here every now and then
Like the soft breeze blowin up from the Caribbean
Most Novembers I break down and cry
But I can’t remember if we said goodbye

Sniff. Damn Steve. I hope this tune turns someone out there on to Mr. Earle. I reckon it will.

Steve Earle: Goodbye (mp3)

• Check out Train a Comin on Amazon.

Posted in Acoustic, Roots Rock, Steve Earle | No Comments »

Et tu, Mr. Earle?

July 13th, 2005 by Pete

I don’t know quite what to think. In the midst of the MLB All Star Game last night, I hear the bad-ass sounds of Steve Earle permeating the airwaves… IN A CHEVY COMMERCIAL. Yes, “The Revolution Starts Now” has gone from the battlecry of those not entirely please with the current administration to the trumpeting of the new Chevy truck revolution or whatever. I - as I said, not quite sure how to feel here. Sure tons of artists have contributed music to commercials, and who’s to say I wouldn’t for that sweet almighty U.S. dollar? So who am I to really judge? But it just feels weird to think Steve Earle took a song so near and dear to his heart like that, and gave it to Chevy. BUT, by the same token, it is possible to discover cool music through commericals. Like Richard Buckner’s “Ariel Ramirez”.

Richard Buckner: Ariel Ramirez (mp3) from Since

Posted in Acoustic, Indie, Steve Earle | 2 Comments »