So the other day, I gave my wife a choice: did she want to hear Steve Earle or Lucinda Williams? We'd been listening to a lot of Earle, so she picked Lucinda, and we ended up listening to Car Wheels on a Gravel Road (my old Straight review of Williams' revisiting that album in Vancouver is here).
At one point, Erika asked me who was playing the harmonica, so I looked it up. Turns out it was Steve Earle. Ha!
Truth is, Earle's presence on the country music scene runs a whole lot deeper than even I knew. For example, I've been listening a lot to Guy, Steve Earle's superb double album of Guy Clark covers, from 2019. But did I know that Earle's first recordings were done in 1975, backing Guy Clark on his first album, Old No. 1?
No, no I did not.
Did I realize that Earle pops up in Heartworn Highways - a film dominated by the likes of Clark, Townes van Zandt, and David Allan Coe, released in 1976? No, I did not. (The person who points at Earle in that clip and says, "Listen to that song" - actually from the extras to the doc, not the film proper - is Guy Clark himself, by the way). Earle for me, like a lot of people, started with "Copperhead Road," from 1988; I didn't even realize til fairly recently that that wasn't even his first album!
Earle has put out three albums since 2019's Guy: Ghosts of West Virginia, about a coal mining disaster; J.T., covering songs written by his late son; and most recently, Jerry Jeff, covering songs by Jerry Jeff Walker (including Jerry Jeff's best-known song, "Mr. Bojangles"). Earle's bio on his website - at this moment, anyhow - details his history with Jerry Jeff Walker's music.
But forgive me if I linger on Guy Clark for a minute; you'll see why in a sec. Clark wrote some of my favourite country songs ever, like "Cold Dog Soup," "The Cape" and "The Guitar." Even his love songs move me, like "Anyhow, I Love You" (Clark's version here, Earle's here). Steve Earle, Guy Clark, and Townes van Zandt recorded a live album together. You can hear one of Clark's songs, "LA Freeway," covered BOTH by Jerry Jeff Walker and Steve Earle - what was it that Fortune Block said, that the mark of a great songwriter is that you hear their songs through someone else? (Speaking of which, Kris Kristofferson - another great songwriter who is often covered by others - leads the Highwaymen in covering Clark's "Desperados Waiting for a Train" here; Clark's original here, Steve Earle's here - though why stop there, there's a David Allan Coe version too!).
Anyhow, the reason for the Guy Clark digression is that I figured Steve Earle (should he see this piece) might like to see some photos Bev Davies took of Clark when he played the Vancouver Folk Festival back in 1985. The negatives have been sitting in a file for a very long time, possibly unseen since she took these pictures; it took some doing for her to find them - but she knew she was at the Folk Fest in '85, and knew Clark was there too, so eventually she hit paydirt... as ever, please do not re-use these without Bev's permission...
Bev never took photos of Justin Townes Earle or Jerry Jeff Walker (tho' her photos of Townes van Zandt are in the folk festival piece with the Fortune Block interview). Nor has she photographed Steve Earle before, but she'll be present next Monday, when Steve Earle plays the Vogue. It'll be the first time either of us have seen him, in fact. I have loved a few of his songs over the years, like "Ellis Unit One" - one of the greatest politically-engaged bits of storytelling set to music that I've heard; and I share Dave Bowes' admiration for a certain song off Jerusalem, too (I'll let Dave talk about that). But I never really committed to Steve Earle fandom until now. Apropos of the show, I've been doing a deep dive into Earle's back catalogue, cheating via Setlist FM to see if I can figure out what he's likely to play (no Guy Clark or Townes covers this time out; looks like when he tours an album of cover tunes he mostly focuses on the artist in question, so we'll be hearing four or five Jerry Jeff Walker songs, most likely at the start of the night, and a lot of originals, closing with encores of songs by the Grateful Dead and the Band).
Fortunately, for the purposes of this blogpiece, other Vancouverites have vastly more experience of Steve Earle than I do. I've collected a few of their stories, by way of welcoming Steve Earle to the Vogue and maybe helping plug the show. Not everyone I asked had a story; Rodney DeCroo and Joey Only went on a bit of a joking exchange about how they never met Earle, but know each other; Paul Pigat - recently interviewed here - never met Steve but met Justin Townes Earle in Australia at the Byron Bay Blues Festival ("He was totally together and really personable," Paul told me. I think he had just cleaned up. We talked about fingerstyle guitar, his new record and stuff and both were looking for Peter Green who was also playing the festival..."). Alex Varty pointed to an article he wrote about Earle and said that "whenever I've had the chance to talk to him we usually go off the record to talk guitars. He has—or had, as he was selling a bunch of stuff a while back—a really remarkable collection."
...But the best stories are as follows...
Steve Earle at the Vancouver Folk Festival, 2013, by Gordon McCaw, not to be reused without permission. Is that a Whitmore Sister?
1. Jeanette McConnell: Steve Earle visits the Picket Lines
Jeanette McConnell has been a volunteer for Coastal Jazz and Blues "since the early 2000's," she tells me via email. "I also work at Canada Post a letter carrier, but in 2011 I worked inside at 349 West Georgia and was the Chief Shop Steward." Earle was coming to town, and CUPW were on strike. Jeanette's story follows; you can also hear Steve Earle talking a bit to the picketing postal workers here.
When the list of performers was released for the Vancouver Jazz Festival in 2011, I had been a volunteer for them in artist hospitality for years and knew that I could basically pick any show. I saw that Steve Earle was playing at the Centre for Performing Arts and immediately signed up as the Crew Chief in Artist Hospitality. At my day job, Canada Post imposed a full-scale national lock out that lasted 13 days. It was on one of the last final days of that lock-out that Steve Earle was headlining - June 26th, 2011. When I left the picket line, I went directly to the Centre for Performing Artists (across the street for the Main Canada Post building), where Steve Earle, the Dukes and his then wife Allison Moorer were just concluding their soundcheck. I approached Steve and told him that I was a postal worker without saying much more he asked: "Are they still filibustering the Legislation?" I laughed and said they in fact were. (Then leader of the opposition NDP National Party, Jack Layton, had introduced the filibuster regarding the rights of postal workers to negotiate and strike which went on for 58 hours). I told him that we were picketing across the street and if he would like to come over and join our picket. He was more than happy to oblige. In fact he had been following the story rather closely (thus how he knew about the filibuster). He told Allison: "Hey, I'm going with this lady across the street to a picket line!" He was very gracious and shook everyone's hand. He told us that sometimes just having a union isn't enough and that we have to fight for our rights as organized labour. He shared how his father and brother had been air traffic controllers when Ronald Reagan had fired them all when they had went on strike. He was so generous with us - signing a few autographs. He asked if he could keep the picket sign which we were more than happy to give him. The CBC sent a news reporter, who attempted to get a statement from Steve. He adamantly refused, saying that he absolutely supported the rights of locked out postal workers and that the reporter should be talking to us because we were the real heroes here. During his performance that evening, Steve made reference to the CUPW (Canadian Union of Postal Workers) labour dispute before declaring: "If you have a boss, you need a Union."
The next time I saw him (a few years later at some casino show - place?/date?) I brought him the magazine with the photo of him on our picket line. He kept it and gave me a signed copy. He told me that he still has the picket sign in his studio. He has remembered me every time since then. I have gone to all his shows - actually prior to 2011 I went to a show of his at the Commodore. I was working 9pm - 5am - my boss who was a fan let me go and I wasn't docked pay. So I basically got paid to go to a Steve Earle show. The last time he was here at the Commodore - he was very happy to see me and I was going to send him a piece of art. He had his assistant give me his number, I was very excited and closed my phone before I saved it. All in all I have met him about 5 or 6 times. He is always gracious, kind, and always on the side of organized labour.
I was worried that the Jazz Fest or my Union would be upset with me. Both were ecstatic! Also when we were ordered back to work a bunch of Canada Post management were like Holy fuck, you brought Steve Earle to your picket line!!
I try to see Steve every time he's here. Remember him elevating in my mind above the country pack with the release of "John Walker's Blues" not long after 9-11 and the start of the war in Afghanistan, a haunting song and a brave political statement for a country artist in America at the time. Highlight of his 2003 Commodore show was his performance of it, for sure.
Last time I saw him at the Commodore, 2018, finally hung out long enough after for meet and greet. Have a picture of us together somewhere , coincidentally both wearing his earlier tour shirt, the communist death head attached here. Since we'd "met" over "John Walker," I felt it was somehow appropriate!
AM: Do you still have it?
RCF: unfortunately not. I had it for about 6 years on my mantle back home in Mississippi. My mom actually thought it was trash and threw it out!!! Can you believe it?! haha. The day was amazing tho.When my wife and I first saw Steve - she was like - I think that’s Steve Earle! I said “naw looks like a pretty rough individual - maybe homeless…” she said “I’m googling Steve Earle's tattoos!”When my wife and I first saw Steve - she was like - I think that’s Steve Earle! I said “naw looks like a pretty rough individual - maybe homeless…” she said “I’m googling Steve Earle's tattoos!”Well I snuck up behind him and seen the “Steve” written on his Starbucks cup. I told my wife - she about flipped and I was like - I gotta go say hey. So I walked over and said “Mr. Earle?” He looked up and said "Yeah!" Then I start stuttering like a pansy - he was still sitting - was very polite.But when my wife walked over he stood right up and extended his hand!!! Haha she always jokes about that - said Steve was excited to see her not me!
He was real polite and we had a great chat.
[Afterwards,] I was so stoked to get that cup that when my wife and I were leaving the airport, we passed a guy - random stranger (later found out it was actor Brad Carter of Sons of Anarchy etc…) with an Amoeba shirt on holding a banjo - I walked up to him - adrenalin still pumping from meeting Steve then dealing with security over going thru the trash - and I go up to this guy, point at my cup, nod my head forward and go “Steve Earle's coffee cup - I just got it out the trash." He looks at me and starts laughing - said “I’m shooting a movie with him and faith hill next week, he's gonna crack up when I tell him.”
I've seen him live, but never met the man. I did talk to his sister Stacey at the merch table when she opened for him in 2001. She kindly autographed a copy or her CD, "I'm your gearle!". Get it?
She was very friendly and appreciative of her fans.
1 comment:
Great post, I've heard nothing but good things about what a regular guy he is. You may also be aware that he had a recurring role in the HBO series "Treme" (which I recommend to anyone whether or not they have any interest in the rich culture of New Orleans)...
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