Steve Earle

Steve Earle (born January 17, 1955) is a singer-songwriter. Although best known for his country music, he is also a published writer, a keen political activist and has also written and directed a play. In his early career he was seen as a saviour of country music, and labelled the 'New Bruce Springsteen', although he never quite achieved that level of commercial success.

Musical career

Whilst in Texas in the early 1970s, Steve Earle met Townes Van Zandt (who became a mentor) and other artists like Jerry Jeff Walker, Lucinda Williams, and Nanci Griffith.

Related Topics:
Townes Van Zandt - Jerry Jeff Walker - Lucinda Williams - Nanci Griffith

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In 1975 he moved to Nashville, where he met and worked with fellow Texans Guy Clark and his wife Susanna Clark. Guy was instrumental in Steve being employed as a songwriter by the Sunburry Dunbar publishing division of RCA. Steve did backing vocals on Guy's, "Desperados Waiting For A Train" together with Emmylou Harris on Guy's first album Old No 1.

Related Topics:
Nashville - Guy Clark - RCA - Emmylou Harris

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However, despite his early success in gaining a job as a songwriter, it was not until 1981 that he achieved a top ten cut with "When You Fall in Love" recorded by Johnny Lee.

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His early work as a recorded performer in his own right concentrated on the rockabilly style, which was popular at the time (which can be heard on the 'Early Years' album). He had to wait until 1986 before his first proper album Guitar Town was released. It was a critical success and sold over 300,000 copies. The follow-up albums 'Exit O' and 'Copperhead Road' built on this success.

Related Topics:
Rockabilly - Copperhead Road

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Steve had been drug user since an early age, and was addicted to heroin for many years. By the time of his 1990 album 'The Hard Way', it started to become clear that the drugs were seriously affecting him. In 1993, his increasing drug problems resulted in him effectively stopping performing and recording for 2 years, a period he refers to as his 'vacation in the ghetto'. He eventually ended up in jail on drug and firearms charges. Kicking the drug habit whilst in jail, Earle came out a new man and released two albums within 18 months of his release in late 1994. His comeback album (the acoustic Train A Comin)was nominated for for the "Best Contemporary Folk Album" Grammy Award in 1996.

Related Topics:
Heroin - Jail - Drug - Firearms - Grammy Award

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Steve's "second, post-jail, musical career" has been noticeably more diverse musically than his early material. Since setting up his own record label, he has been able to follow his own artistic direction rather than being constrained to the Nashville country pop rock sound, and for the first time has found himself with complete artistic control over his albums. This has lead to experimentation with a range of styles from country and bluegrass to folk and hard rock. He has stuck to a very hard work ethic, and avoided any temptation to return to drug use. Several albums have been released since, as has a book of haiku and a book of short stories called 'Doghouse Roses'. He also wrote and directed a play about the death penalty. Earle also tours hard, playing over 200 gigs in most years - his concerts tend to be either solo acoustic gigs, or with one of his two backing bands, the Dukes and the Bluegrass Dukes.

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Steve is the subject of a documentary film entitled Just an American Boy, directed by Amos Poe, which explores his political views as well as his music. In 2005 he caused consternation among his fans by allowing the song "The Revolution Starts Now" to be used by General Motors in a TV advertisement for pick-up trucks.

Related Topics:
Amos Poe - General Motors - TV advertisement

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