Steve Earle is a rebel. Not in the Hollywood/James Dean/Easy Rider/rebel-against-society sense, but rather in a real and personal way. Throughout his life and career he has rebelled against the very industry that surrounded him and did not find the freedom he sought until he started his own label, E-Squared. He rebelled against his common sense and his health in search of true American artistry and did not find the freedom he sought until he hit the bottom of addiction, and he continues to rebel against mainstream American culture and politics with his attitudes and songs; Transcendental Blues is no exception. Transcendental Blues walks the line between Steve Earle the country-rock rebel who gave the world Copperhead Road and Guitar Town and Steve Earle the traditionalist who opened a new chapter in luegrass with his last release, The Mountain. This album rocks with songs like "Everyone's in Love with You" and "All My Life." It soothes with "The Boy Who Never Cried" and "Lonelier Than This," and it two-steps with new country like "The Galway Girl" and "Until the Day I Die." Fans of alternative country music sing the praises of artists like Charlie Robison, Jack Ingram, and Robert Earl Keen, Jr., but Earle proves again and again that he is the original alternative to the glossy side of Nashville. Earle cut the path that all his followers thankfully hike along, avoiding the weeds and branches that made him what he is today.
Here is a nice, positive post for your Monday ;-)I finished Truman Capote's 'In Cold Blood' over the weekend and the last quarter of the book deals heavily with capital punishment. Which got me to thinking about last meals...which got me to thinking about something even more important. If you KNEW you were going to die in a few hours...what record would you put on and listen to a few times befo...
More >
In honor of my insanely impulsive decision to by tix to the Austin City Limits Festival...tonight's lullaby is by Steve Earle, who is playing ACL.He is near the top of my list of MUST SEE BEFORE I DIE artists. His music has meant SO much to me over the years, and for whatever reason the stars never aligned and I have never gotten to see him live...but I will in September!
More >
I recently upgraded my car stereo to allow the playing of my iPod and XM Radio. The end result is that I am a much happier person not having to listen to Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, National Public Radio or Democracy Now! For me the radio is reserved for music. Talk radio is too biased and depressing, except when someone is telling me that Global Warming is worse than predicted and there's no...
More >
I try not to play music too loudly when my kids are around. I’d prefer they not suffer the kind of hearing loss I’ve suffered for lack of guidance about things like deafness, gum disease and Carole Bayer Sager records.Low volume was likely the cause of the disinterest in Steve Earle’s Transcendental Blues, played this [...]
More >
© 2006-2009 Mog Inc. All Rights Reserved
 "Transcendental Blues")
