{"id":9001,"date":"2017-08-02T16:33:46","date_gmt":"2017-08-02T16:33:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=9001"},"modified":"2018-02-01T16:15:03","modified_gmt":"2018-02-01T16:15:03","slug":"steve-earle-the-hard-core-troubadour-carries-wounds-in-his-outlaw-heart","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/?p=9001","title":{"rendered":"Steve Earle: The Hard-Core Troubadour Carries Wounds in his Outlaw Heart"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Fb-Button\"\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>
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\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Earle (right) and two of the Dukes rock out at a recent concert at the Minneapolis Zoo. \u00a0Dukes’ fiddle player Eleanor Whitmore and guitarist Chris Masterson also played a short opening set in their duo incarnation, The Mastersons. All photos by Kevin Lynch\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Apple Valley, MN \u2013<\/strong> Steve Earle continues to amaze, for the depth of his musical and songwriting talent, his passion, righteousness and intellect.\u00a0 He often manages to weave all these aspects through any given song.<\/p>\n

He’s also a rare bird for his self-described working-class redneck cultural background. Our overheated stereotyping today might peg him as one of the anti-intellectual, blind-faith types that walk the Donald Trump lockstep. But Earle\u2019s a patriotic lefty and an author with so much to give in mind and heart, and this was abundantly clear when he performed Sunday night at the Weesner Amphitheatre in the Minneapolis Zoo.<\/p>\n

His extremely generous set displayed the range of style and attitude he\u2019s cherished for.<\/p>\n

A key moment arrived when he recounted his experience of beloved singer-songwriter Guy Clark\u2019s death, which began with a story about high school teachers who showed Earle the way. Fellow Texan Clark had battled cancer for a decade, and lost his soul mate spouse Susanna Clark a few years earlier. Earle recounted waking up in Nashville, and joining other mourners to sing Clark\u2019s songs. In his new album\u2019s liner notes, Earle explains how he packs grief in his back pocket: \u201cIt\u2019s no secret that loss comes naturally to those of us who wander the outer edges of the wide world. We\u2019ve not only come to expect that, most of us have made it our stock and trade to embrace it, savor it, set it to the melody that the North wind whistles and the rhythm of a broken heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

When he got home, Earle wrote his song for Clark, \u201cGoodbye Michelangelo.\u201d It shows his well-honed tender side. Plucking a plaintive electric mandolin, he sang: \u201cSo long, my Captain adios\/ Sail upon the sea of ghosts\/ Chase the white whale to the end\/ Bring the story back again\u2026You taught me everything I know\/ Goodbye Michelangelo.\u201d<\/p>\n

Why \u201cMichelangelo\u201d? Clark was an artist-craftsman, a guitar-maker \u2013 a sculptor of guitars \u2013 as well as a musical poet like his best friend, and Earle\u2019s first great influence, Townes Van Zandt. (Guy\u2019s ashes are accordingly waiting to be incorporated into a sculptor\u2019s bronze statue. For a great example of that three-songwriter connection, hear the album Steve Earle, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark: Together at the Bluebird Caf\u00e9.)<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cMichelangelo\u201d graces Earle\u2019s new album So You Wannabe an Outlaw,<\/em>\u00a0which is inspired by an original “outlaw musician,” Waylon Jennings. His classic album Honky Tonk Heroes<\/em>\u00a0grabbed Earle\u2019s wayward heart again, not long ago when he was searching for an album theme. Jennings’ album was another timeless collaboration of dust-covered compatriots, Billy Joe Shaver and Tompall Glaser. 1<\/p>\n

Earle\u2019s a man of brotherhood and sisterhood, and both tendencies brim with\u00a0romanticism, he admitted Sunday, toward the end. He openly recounted circumstances that surround his current situation, not-long divorced from his former musical mate and spouse Allison Moorer. He\u2019s hopelessly star-crossed, it seems, having been married seven times, including twice to the same woman. Despite it all, Earle still believes in romance, not only between lovers, but in the idea that there\u2019s a person out there for everyone. He even helped Moorer finish a song not long ago,\u00a0\u201cNews from Colorado,\u201d\u00a0<\/span>which he then recorded and performed.\u00a0 And even if his belief is riddled with holes, he now cherishes the provisional freedom of \u201cwatching all the baseball games I want to.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

These reflections led to the new album\u2019s \u201cThe Girl on the Mountain,\u201d which echoes Townes Van Zandt\u2019s \u201cColorado Girl,\u201d speaking pointedly of a love he can\u2019t let go. Earle could always soften his boot heel-tough voice, and here it drags its feet like a hobo: \u201cSometimes late at night I pray\/She\u2019ll come down to me someday\/But the girl up on the mountain never knew.\u201d The ambiguity of that last clause pricks the heart. Did she ever really know how he loved her? Did he ever really have a chance? Would he always lose her to a mountain?<\/p>\n

\"Steve<\/p>\n

Steve Earle, performing here in Minneapolis, is a self described “romantic” who’s unafraid to bare his soul in concert.<\/em><\/p>\n

The new album bears various riches, including two hard-life songs \u201cIf Mama Could See Me\u201d and the harrowing \u201cFixin\u2019 to Die.\u201d The former one walks the fine line between shame and regret: \u201cIf mama could see me in this prison she\u2019d a cried but she cain\u2019t,\u201d another canny line about tough realities. What mother can really accept an imprisoned child?<\/p>\n

\u201cFixin\u2019 to Die\u201d recounts a crime of passion: \u201cFixin\u2019 to die and I reckon that I\u2019m going to hell. Shot my baby in the Heaven-on-the-Highway hotel!\u201d Earle followed it up with the thematically conjoined \u201cHey Joe,\u201d best known as a cover by Jimi Hendrix. It\u2019s another murder ballad that he and his ace band The Dukes lent great power and even majesty, on the broad-shoulders of tragedy. It also included a razor-edged political ad lib: \u201cI\u2019m goin\u2019 down south before that a–hole builds that wall\/ So a man can be free!\u201d<\/p>\n

Earle mixed in just enough of his superb catalog for variety, including the heavy-metal grinder “Copperhead Road,” the pealing mysticism of the minor-key vamp \u201cTranscendental Blues,\u201d the stirring call-and-response of \u201cCity of Immigrants\u201d and, in encore, one of his most exhilarating songs, \u201cJohnny Come Lately.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the World War II tradition, “Johnny” celebrates returning veterans, even though this tale tells of a Purple Heart Vietnam vet who\u2019s plenty worse for wear. Yet the irony of his troubles make hardly a dent in the hometown hoopla. Wait until he tries to find a job.<\/p>\n

Finally, I can\u2019t overlook Earle\u2019s power-packed new song \u201cThe Firebreak Line,\u201d which, he said, might be the first song dedicated to wildfire fighters. Wildfires, especially in California, continue to ravage drought-ridden\u00a0areas and threaten property and human health and life. Talk about a new breed of unsung heroes. Until now. \u201cGotta pray that the wind\u2019ll die\/ and it rains down from on high\/ raise a glass\/ for the hotshots past\/ in hotshot heaven up above the sky.\u201d<\/p>\n

Even if his personal life \u2013 including serious prison time for drug convictions \u2013 often plays like a B disaster movie, Earle is a hard-core hero in my book, the sort we need as many as possible of in our blighted culture and politics. I wonder how many working-class voters, especially fellow Southerners, pay attention to his word, compassion and insight.<\/p>\n

He also displayed his superb musical taste in his choice of opening acts. The first group, the duo called The Mastersons, are actually members of the current edition of the Dukes, and include the excellent guitarist-vocalist Chris Masterson and violinist-mandolinist-vocalist Eleanor Whitmore. Together the couple dealt out piquant harmonies and snap-dragon rhythms.<\/p>\n

\"cactus\"<\/p>\n

The Cactus Blossoms add very original dimensions to their Everly Brothers-esque vocal harmony style.<\/em><\/p>\n

Harmonies were also the calling card of the second opening group, The Cactus Blossoms, and if you only glanced at the card you\u2019d swear it read \u201cThe Everly Brothers.\u201d I\u2019ve never heard a group more perfectly and pointedly capture the gleaming fraternal resonances of that famous duo. And yet, for all that, you found not a single Everly cover in the set of this St. Paul-based group. Their lone cover was an old Kinks song, \u201cWho\u2019ll Be the Next in Line?\u201d And they burn a very personal trademark into their style. For all their soul, the Everly Brothers almost sounded slick compared to this group. Which doesn\u2019t mean The Cactus Blossoms lack for high musical skills. The vocal harmonies are achingly\u00a0plangent and precise. From their mirror voices and looks you\u2019d swear they\u2019re blood brothers but nope, the singers are Page Burkum and Jack Torrey. And tellingly, they make no mention of the Everly brothers\u2019 style on their website bio page.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s different is that the Blossoms slather a thick, hazy glaze of knotty-pine country on their Everly-ish pipes, often delivered at a sleepy shuffle, but with a band fully capable of cranking up for a bluegrass style hoe-down, or personalized Honky Tonk with a hint of burnished class. The overall effect, at its best, is down-home, infectious and quietly thrilling.<\/p>\n

\"zooThe Weezner Amphitheater at the Minneapolis Zoo is a stunningly picturesque concert setting.<\/em><\/p>\n

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1 Earle historically is a brilliant collaborator, among his highlights have been full album-collaboration with the Del McCoury band, The Mountain<\/em>, which includes his superb duet of \u201cI\u2019m Still in Love with You,\u201d with Iris Dement, reminiscent of his joyous \u201cYou\u2019re Still Standing There,\u201d with Lucinda Williams. The Mountain<\/em> also includes Earle, DeMent and a star-studded gaggle of roots-music singers doing his slowly stirring “Pilgrim,” which director Kenneth Lonergan used to close his breakthrough film\u00a0<\/em>about a feckless drifter, You Can Count on Me<\/em>. Earle recorded \u201cJohnny Come Lately\u201d with the ultimate rabble-rousing Irish bar band, The Pogues. Then there\u2019s his duet with Allison Moorer “After The Fire Is Gone” from\u00a0Coal Miner’s Daughter: A Tribute To Loretta Lynn<\/a><\/em>, and several duets with Emmylou Harris and one with his sister Stacey Earle.<\/p>\n

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Steve Earle (right) and two of the Dukes rock out at a recent concert at the Minneapolis Zoo. \u00a0Dukes’ fiddle player Eleanor Whitmore and guitarist Chris Masterson also played a short opening set in their duo incarnation, The Mastersons. All … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[263,186,258,256,262,257,261,259,260],"class_list":["post-9001","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-www-kevernacular-com","tag-so-you-wanna-be-an-outlaw","tag-allison-moorer","tag-guy-clark","tag-steve-earle","tag-the-cactus-blossoms","tag-the-dukes","tag-the-mastersons","tag-townes-van-zandt","tag-waylon-jennings"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p2hJWE-2lb","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=9001"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9685,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9001\/revisions\/9685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=9001"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=9001"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kevernacular.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=9001"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}