Steve Earle at Mariposa

It was in July 2002 that I caught Steve, appearing by himself, at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario.  He had just announced that, rather than taking time off as planned, he just finished a new record which, at least partially, responded to the draconian political climate of post-9/11 America.

Now some of you would live through me Lock me up and throw away the key Or just find a place to hide away Hope that I'll just go away....HA!  -I Feel Alright, 1996

I like the old stuff as much as any redneck.  As far as 80's-era country-rock goes, songs like 'Someday', 'Guitar Town', and yes, 'Copperhead Road', are veritable classics.  No one can write angst-ridden, half-tonne-with-a-gun-rack-driving-country-boy-outlaw type anthems quite like Steve Earle could in the eighties.  But if these songs and this image are what you think of when you hear his name, you owe it to yourself to check out his more recent work.  It's the music he's made, and the man he's become since the mid-90's --after his self-described vacation in the ghetto-- that impresses me.   For those of you who aren't familiar with his career, allow me to explain.

Steve came within a hairs breadth of dying.  Mainlining heroin from age fourteen, burning through six marriages in less than twenty years, and sleepless binging on speedballs, would push anyone to the brink.   But after hitting rock bottom, and spending the better part of 1994 in a jail cell for repeated possession charges, Steve miraculously found a way out.  He not only cleaned himself up; he went on to put out no less than nine releases since then --the majority of which are new, original, and truly inspired material.  In the depths of despair he found muse and transformed himself from a junkie into a creative machine, from an outlaw into an activist-intellectual, and from an angry redneck into an informed, outspoken and critically acclaimed artist.  What's more is that he has branched off in a number of creative directions which I can only begin to list here. 

Steve Earle, the man and the musician, cannot be described without mentioning his politics. To put it sharply, one could say he is a pinko in the tradition of Woody Guthrie and an activist in the mould of Abbie Hoffman.  He is compassionate and fiercely libertarian with the courage to point out the systematic costs of our brand of over-extended hyper-capitalism.  He has been particularly outspoken on the issues of capital punishment, land mines, human rights, farmers' rights, media consolidation, and fair trade.  Though he can still write a love song, his politics inform much of his art, and since his rebirth, his treatment of controversial issues has been uniquely direct yet sensitive,  deft yet assertive.

Between recordings Steve has toured heavily, produced, launched a literary career (writing poetry, plays, and a collection of short stories), experimented with acting, given keynote addresses, put together a DVD, and donated time to his myriad causes.   Still, he remains dedicated to song writing. And his post-addiction music is not like it was.  Due to its broad and diverse nature,  it's not easy to characterize.  You can call it roots rock or alternative country, but in fact it draws from almost every genre.  Country, rock, Celtic, bluegrass, reggae, folk, R&B, pop,....you name it. 

Seeing Steve in concert with his band 'The Dukes' is great.  But I've especially enjoyed the times I've seen him play solo.  Steve can hold the attention of even a large audience by himself.  His singing, guitar picking, and harmonica blowing, put to melody a legend that he personifies in life, that he articulates in between-song banter, and that his words convey in rich imagery.  He is, at heart, a poet and protest singer.

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Who Steve Earle Where Mariposa Folk Festival, Orillia, Ontario When July 7, 2002 Media Jerusalem,  From album of the same name, 2002 John Walker's Blues, also from 2002's Jerusalem I Feel Alright (live), from the album of the same name, 1996 Johnny Too Bad, From 2002's Sidetracks

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The Show

It was in July 2002 that I caught Steve, appearing by himself, at the Mariposa Folk Festival in Orillia, Ontario.  He had just announced that, rather than taking time off as planned, he just finished a new record which, at least partially, responded to the draconian political climate of post-9/11 America.  Among other issues, on Jerusalem Steve takes on the arrogance of modern man, and the selling out of the once egalitarian peace generation.   At Mariposa he treated us to an acoustic sneak preview of John Walker's Blues, a human perspective on the brandishing of American Taliban John Walker Lindh as a traitor, and the album's title track, Jerusalem, a hopeful reminder for a media-drenched, interdependent world that the Middle East is worth saving. 

Instead of rewriting it here I'm going to point you to an earlier telling of my experience at Mariposa.  I enjoy the discussions, CD and concert reviews, and guitar tablatures found at a forum called AltCountryTab.  So when I returned to Toronto after the festival I posted an account of the weekend including a review of Steve's two colourful performances, the second of which featured a persistent swarm of black flies, a charging fan, and a visit from the Hells Angels.  That site is rebuilding after a major overhaul but you can find an edited version of the article here at SteveEarle.net.

Links
Official Site
The Original Unofficial Steve Earle Site
Mariposa Folk Festival
Unedited article from Steve Earle Online

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