Steve Earle and Me... — Vinyl Magic

Guy Clark told me when I was 19, 'Songs aren't finished until you play them for the people.' As songwriters, we're all into getting our songs cut, but all of us wanted to play for audiences. What I was part of was essentially a salon. We played songs for our publishers, but we didn't really give a fuck about what they thought. I cared about what happened when me, Guy Clark, Dave Loggins, Mickey Newbury, Steve Young, sometimes maybe even Neil Young, were sitting in a circle passing a guitar. That's what I cared about. When I impressed that audience, I felt like I had something.
Steve Earle

***Old No. 1 (1975) signed by Steve, Guy Clark, Emmylou Harris***

But you also have to get busy living. I never believed that being miserable or being fucked up was conducive to art. I never bought it. I think I write a lot better songs now than I did when I was fucked up. I still haven't made a record that sold as well in the United States as Copperhead Road. But I think I've made better records than Copperhead Road. I know I'm a better singer than I was back then. And I know I'm a better writer for one reason: I lived.
Steve Earle

***Copperhead Road (1988) signed by Steve***

Steve Earle not only writes great country songs, he lives them. Drinkin', druggin', marryin', cheatin', divorcin'. Rinse and repeat. Married seven times, twice to the same woman, Steve once quipped at a show, "The divorce wasn't working out, so I married her again." Until that didn't work out. And let's not forget prison and redemption. Songwriter, raconteur, riveting performer, and three time Grammy winner, Steve dropped out of high school when he was 16 and fled to Houston (from San Antonio) in pursuit of his idol, Townes Van Zandt, who Steve later admitted "was a good teacher and a bad role model."

***Flyin’ Shoes (1978) signed by Steve, Emmylou Harris, Townes Van Zandt***

Steve's first album, Guitar Town was released in 1986 and it became a breakthrough Number One country hit. Steve was heralded as the "New Nashville" along with Dwight Yoakam and Randy Travis. Yes, he was new alright, he had only been hanging around Nashville for twelve or thirteen years, once serving as a staff songwriter for music publisher Sunbury Dunbar. Steve was thirty-one years old, a grizzled veteran and a gifted songwriter (Carl Perkins recorded "Mustang Wine" in 1977 after a botched Elvis Presley session when the King didn't show up!) surfeited with a voracious drug and alcohol problem.

***I Ain’t Ever Satisfied (1987 12” single) signed by Steve***

Steve released four studio albums from 1986-1991 until the drugs and alcohol nearly took him out. At the height of the throes and woes of his addictions, Townes Van Zandt - no paragon of sobriety - was sent as an emissary. Steve told Townes, “I must be in trouble if they’re sending you,” Later, Steve ended up in jail for heroin possession, served two months, went to rehab, got clean, and, more importantly, stayed clean. Since September 13, 1994, he has released thirteen studio albums, five live albums, toured incessantly, acted in the television series The Wire and Treme, published a novel and a collection of short stories, wrote and directed an Off-Broadway play, started a record company, produced albums by Joan Baez and Allison Moorer, and contributed songs to numerous film soundtracks. Steve has been creative, productive, and prolific, and he lays waste to the notion that the tortured artist creates his best art under the influence. It just ain't necessarily so.

***Train a Comin’ (1995) signed by Steve***

Train a Comin' (1995) was released after Steve's short prison stint. Steve said of the recording," I was goin' for a sound where it sounded like old Opry stuff, where everybody stepped around the mike, which is real close to what we actually did. It ended up being even more of an organic record than I thought it was gonna be." Steve did a short tour accompanied by his stringed virtuosos: Peter Rowan on mandolin, guitars, Roy Huskey Jr. on upright bass, and Norman Blake on everything. I saw them at the old Birchmere in Alexandria, Virginia on August 27, 1995 and it was an amazing show. Steve led the band through most of his (then) new album, including a beautiful, heart breaking "Goodbye" which he said was the first song he wrote sober, and great covers of The Beatles' "I'm Looking Through You", Townes Van Zandt's "Tecumseh Valley" and The Melodians "Rivers Of Babylon." Yes, reggae goes hillbilly!

***Diane, Emmylou and Me: Landmine Free World Benefit, Washington DC 1998***

Another great show was a benefit in 1998 at the National Building Museum in Washington, DC for "A Landmine Free World" sponsored by the Vietnam Veterans Association Foundation. The National Building Museum, completed in 1887, is an architectural wonder with spectacular Corinthian columns 8 feet wide, soaring some 75 feet in the air. My friend Diane called Erin and told her about the show. Our daughter Kendall was only 10 weeks old, so Erin was out. Diane said she could get me in but I had to wear black tie. My tux was pressed and ready and so was I. Diane told me to meet her near the caterer's entrance (she was the lead caterer!) and she would hustle me in. Safely in, she said, "Don't worry, someone always no-shows at these events, we'll find you a seat in the back. Now, let's go meet the artists." In the guise of checking on the food, I followed Diane into the dressing room as Emmylou Harris and Steve Earle were finishing a song. Emmylou said, "That's so beautiful." Damn, I missed it.

***Flyin’ Shoes back cover: Steve’s cabin, somewhere outside of Nashville***

Diane went to check on the food and I looked around the room. There was Buddy and Julie Miller, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle, Sheryl Crow and me. Pretty cool, thanks Diane! I approached Steve first, and I gave him Guy Clark's Old No. 1 (1975). Steve nearly tore it out of my hands, "Look, here's the first album I ever played on!" he shouted as he showed it to Sheryl and Emmylou. "What else have you got?" Next, I gave him Townes Van Zandt's Flying Shoes (1978) and he turned the cover over. "This is the cabin I lived in before I split to Mexico. Townes had no place to live, so he moved in. He kinda squatted there." It is a ramshackle, falling down cabin with no bathroom. Though it looked deep back woods, Steve told me it was just outside of Nashville. "It had running water but it got really cold" he explained. I told Steve how much I loved "Me And The Eagle", a song that appears on the soundtrack for The Horse Whisperer (1998). I mentioned that a friend of mine had recently purchased a Weissenborn guitar which he returned because it was so difficult to play. Steve laughed, "Yeah, It is hard to play. Jerry (Douglas) does a great job on that song. Ry (Cooder) calls it a Weisenheimer!" Now it was time for the show.

Politicians politicked, socialites socialized and Bobby Mueller, the head of the VVAF, gave thanks to everyone for supporting such a worthy cause. Before Steve started singing, he looked out at the black tie crowd, bejeweled and bedazzled, and said, "You know, when I wrote this song I always dreamed of playing it to a crowd like this." Then he started finger picking the opening chords to ""Christmas In Washington" with the opening lyrics:

"It's Christmastime in Washington
The Democrats rehearsed
Gettin' into gear for four more years
Things not gettin' worse
The Republicans drink whiskey neat
And thanked their lucky stars
They said, 'He cannot seek another term
There'll be no more FDRs."

It was a surreal moment as Steve's leftist, populist views were in direct collision with Washington society, and Washington society seemed blithely unaware and oblivious. Steve played a few more tracks from his (then) latest album El Corazon (1997) and finished with a transcendent version of "Goodbye" with Emmylou Harris supplying exquisite harmony vocals. It was a fabulous show.

***Washington Square Serenade (2007) signed by Steve***

The last time I saw Steve he was touring in support of Terraplane (2015), a blues album named after Robert Johnson's first single. I was struck by how broad and versatile Steve is in concert. From honky tonk country ("The Devil's Right Hand" and "Guitar Town") to blues ("My Old Friend The Blues" and "Better off Alone") to celtic ("The Galway Girl" and "Copperhead Road") to weepers ("Remember Me" and "Goodbye") to classic rock covers (Donovan's "There Is A Mountain" and Jimi Hendrix's "Hey Joe"), there is no genre Steve leaves untouched or unmastered. Well, maybe jazz, and that might be next for the mercurial genius that is Steve Earle.

***The Odeon, Cleveland 10.21.04 signed by Steve, Allison Moorer***

Hey, I'll be pimping my stuff at the merch table after the show. I gotta sell some records, I have child support in New York City and I support half the women in Tennessee. Please come see me.
Steve Earle July 16, 2015 Ridgefield Theater, Ridgefield CT