What do you think of Steve Earle?

[Dagger Gordon]

Been listening to the new CD 'I'll never get out of this world alive'.

Absolutely great in my view. Love his singing, the songs, the production by T Bone Burnett - it's just great.

There's quite a lot of mandolin on it, and it occurs to me that we don't hear much about Steve here. He's not Chris Thile on the mandolin, but there is something about his playing which is very effective and I suspect more generally influential than he is probably given credit for.

I also think he is one of America's great songwriters.

[Michael Eck]

Love him! He's a great songwriter.

[Dale Ludewig]

I think his Guitar Town CD is one of the best songwriting achievements I've ever heard. No mandolin content.

[Steve Ostrander]

Fabulous songwriter, one of my favorites. I especially like "Train a Comin" and "The Mountain" with Del McCoury. He is a very competent guitar and mandolin player. Our trio covers sevral of his songs, and you know what they say about imitation.

[Ed Goist]

...snip...we don't hear much about Steve here. He's not Chris Thile on the mandolin, but there is something about his playing which is very effective and I suspect more generally influential than he is probably given credit for.
I also think he is one of America's great songwriters.

Huge +1! I could not possibly agree with this more.
I have not heard his new album, but I have it on my summer "must get" list.
I'm even more stoked about it now that you say there is a decent amount of mandolin on it.

[Ed Goist]

A friend of mine who is a gifted guitarist once told me that guitarists with basic but "hooky" technique (guys whose songs/riffs one can learn in a few minutes) are always more influential that technical wizards on the instrument (guys whose technique is intimidating).
He would say that Kurt Cobain got a lot more kids to pick-up a guitar than Al DiMeola did.
I find this premise hard to refute.

[MikeEdgerton]

I've been a fan for years. If you like Steve you'll probably like Guy Clark as well.

[Treblemaker]

IMHO he's the best bluegrass songwriter to have come along who's lyrical focus has a deep, thoughtful undercurrent that is political, controversial and thought provoking. Tim O'Brien is amazing too, but a close 2nd as concerns songs that stir up emotions, anger, ire, dissatisfaction and outrage.

Sometimes I find SE a bit tooooo angry - and if you have ever read his biography a case could be made that he has successfully reformed himself from his junkie, addicted criminal past and become a very meaningful artist.

[Fretbear]

Huge fan; he has inspired me to "Just write songs, Dammit!" Saying you can't and then not doing so only proves that you are not a songwriter, and for some of us that is just not acceptable. He is an inspiration not only as a songwriter, but as a survivor. Anyone doubting his subtle mastery of guitar accompaniment should check out "Billy Austin" (pre-prison) and "Ellis Unit One" (54th St. Sessions, post-prison) on YouTube. Those two songs cut right down to the bone.

[Denny Gies]

Quirky and great. I really like "Tennessee Blues" from the Washington Square Serenade CD.

[onassis]

One of the few artists I've seen who can play a one-man show, singing off-key all night, with an out of tune guitar, and keep an audience absolutely mesmerized. He's a great songwriter and performer, and a deceptively talented instrumentalist. Not a super technician, but very compelling. These days, though, I tend to listen more to his son, Justin Townes (who has a fair bit of MC, btw)

[Mike Bunting]

Your reference to Justin Townes Earle turned me on to him, can't thank you enough. He's a welcome antidote to the candy floss country music out there these days.

http://youtu.be/5LLqFF89UtU

[Markus]

I think he can have quite a foul mouth.

I have very much enjoyed quite a bit of his work, and have a huge respect for his songwriting skills most of all. He's one of the great living American songwriters in my book.

Very interested in this album, as this isn't the first person I've heard remark about how much they liked this new album.

[cstewart]

I went to see Steve Earle at the Egg in Albany a year or two ago and was a little perturbed that his son was opening for him. Seemed like nepotism to me. Then he performed and the next day I bought all 3 of the CDs he had out at the time. He's put out another since then and it's just as good as the others.

[Jim MacDaniel]

...I also think he is one of America's great songwriters.

I couldn't agree more. Regardless of what phase he was in, his recordings have always resonated with me.

[Jim MacDaniel]

I've been a fan for years. If you like Steve you'll probably like Guy Clark as well.

I love, love, love this song: Picasso's Mandolin

[Mike Bunting]

I love, love, love this song: Picasso's Mandolin

That whole album is fantastic, but most of his work is.

[Paul Kotapish]

Steve Earle is great, and I really enjoyed his performance (as a singer-songwriter/mentor) in season one of the Treme series, too--just one more reason (among many others) to rent and watch the whole thing.

[Bernie Daniel]

My one of my favorite songs of his is "Galway Girl" -- many Irish don't believe it was written by an American because Earle has played it over there with Sharon Shannon so many times. Johnny Cash used to have to insist to Irish audiences that he wrote "Forty Shades of Green" also!

[Jim MacDaniel]

I forget the movie, but I remember a pub scene of someone playing Galway Girl on stage (on location somewhere in the west of Ireland IIRC), and I got a kick of the performer's introduction of a the song as "an American song about an Irish girl" -- but he failed to say who actually wrote it

[Ed Goist]

I forget the movie, but I remember a pub scene of someone playing Galway Girl on stage (on location somewhere in the west of Ireland IIRC), and I got a kick of the performer's introduction of a the song as "an American song about an Irish girl" -- but he failed to say who actually wrote it

Maybe P.S. I Love You?
(What a great song, by the way!)

[northfolk]

I think he is great; I have been listening to him for years. I will be seeing him in person, for the first time I might add, July 22nd at The Big Top Chautauqua, near the shores of Lake Superior.

[Fretbear]

Besides his stint as the street singer in "Treme", which is about the recovery of the New Orleans music scene after Katrina, he also plays the recovered addict Waylon in "The Wire". David Simon is responsible for them and they are both fantastic.

[trevor]

I'm a huge fan too, I think I have more of Steve Earl's work than anyone else's.

[Buddah]

I'll take my place in line as one of SE's biggest fans. The last time I saw him live, he was touring in support of the "Townes" album. 2+ hours of amazing, solo music. At one point he grabbed his Weber Mandola, and told us that it was one of his favorite instruments that he owned. Pretty cool (and went over quite well in Missoula, about 3 hrs. away from Belgrade, where Weber's are made).