New York City has long been more than America's biggest and most fabled city -- it's a place that symbolizes fresh starts and new opportunities, and there are scores of songs and stories about folks pulling up roots and heading to the Big Apple in search of a better and more exciting life. Steve Earle wrote one such song on his 1997 album El Corazón, "NYC," in which a nervy kid from Tennessee hitchhikes to Manhattan because "there must be something happening, it's just too big a town," and a decade later Earle followed him, moving to New York to escape Red State malaise. Washington Square Serenade, Earle's 12th studio album and first in three years, deals in part with the sights and sounds of his new hometown, from the red-tailed hawk that lives in Central Park ("Down Here Below") to the multilingual chatter of the streets ("City of Immigrants"), while also taking a look back at the home he left behind on tunes like "Oxycontin Blues," "Red Is the Color," and "Jericho Road." While there's a strength in the familiar textures of the songs where Earle remembers Tennessee, there's a welcome sense of rejuvenation in the album's first half as he shares the details of his adventures in New York (which also includes a new bride, Allison Moorer, who lends lovely backing vocals to these sessions and is the presumable inspiration for "Sparkle and Shine" and "Days Aren't Long Enough"), and the expressionistic imagery of "Down Here Below" and "Satellite Radio" works beautifully in this context. After producing his last few album himself, Earle turned those chores over to Dust Brother John King for Washington Square Serenade, and King brings a welcome collision of the traditional and the contemporary to the music, facing scratchy drum loops against mandolins and dobros while letting a folky simplicity carry the day when it best suits the song, and the sound is crisp and forceful throughout. Washington Square Serenade ultimately sounds a bit less focused than its immediate predecessors, the politically minded Jerusalem and The Revolution Starts...Now (despite the presence of "Red Is the Color" and "Steve's Hammer"), but it also finds Earle trying out some new tricks both as a performer and a songwriter, and it's exciting and encouraging to hear him exploring fresh turf after two decades of record-making, and there's lots of fine music to be had on this set.
"Fare thee well I’m bound to roam / This ain’t never been my home," sings Steve Earle in "Tennessee Blues," the opening track of his latest album Washington Square Serenade, widely described as a love letter to his new home New York City. In the next track "Down Here Below" Earle fashions a talking blues (rap's great-grandpappy; think talking blues on speed) to celebrate and ring the city's ch
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Steve Earle's new love letter to New York, Washington Square Serenade, is another in a long line of very strong, post-sobriety milestones.This album is very, very good.
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There's nothing like telling the FCC to f-off with Steve Earle. Earle will be touring next February and most likely his sets will include the popular "F the CC".The tour is in support of his latest album Washington Square erenade, which is nominated for the Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals Grammy Awards. Before the US tour, which kicks off on Fe...
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Steve Earle will release his new album Washington Square Serenade on September 25th. The album will be Earle's first on the New West label.Production credits for Washington Square Serenade go to the Dust Brothers' John King. Earle covers the Tom Waits track "Way Down in the Hole," the theme song from his HBO series The Wire and his wife, Alison Moorer, sings on the track "Days Aren't Long Enough."
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Just as glad I stayed home, I've seen my share of rainy festivals...here are the links -Gathering of the Vibes @ iclipsNewport Folk Festival @ NPR
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Legend has it that once upon a time the Paramount was a movie theatre, and judging from its present-day appearance I imagine that they would have called it a movie palace - - from its ceiling to the large watercolors that line the walls the place is drop-dead gorgeous. And the acoustics ain't too shabbby either. I took in the show from Orchestra Right Row B.Allison Moorer started things off la...
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"Fare thee well I’m bound to roam / This ain’t never been my home," sings Steve Earle in "Tennessee Blues," the opening track of his latest album Washington Square Serenade, widely described as a love letter to his new home New York City. In the next track "Down Here Below" Earle fashions a talking blues (rap's great-grandpappy; think talking blues on speed) to celebrate and ring the city's ch
More >
"Fare thee well I’m bound to roam / This ain’t never been my home," sings Steve Earle in "Tennessee Blues," the opening track of his latest album Washington Square Serenade, widely described as a love letter to his new home New York City. In the next track "Down Here Below" Earle fashions a talking blues (rap's great-grandpappy; think talking blues on speed) to celebrate and ring the city's ch
More >
Steve Earle's new love letter to New York, Washington Square Serenade, is another in a long line of very strong, post-sobriety milestones.This album is very, very good.
More >
| Title | Lyrics | Buy |
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| 1 Tennessee Blues |
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| 2 Down Here Below |
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| 3 Satellite Radio |
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| 4 City of Immigrants |
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| 5 Sparkle and Shine |
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| 6 Come Home to Me |
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| 7 Jericho Road |
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| 8 Oxycontin Blues |
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| 9 Red Is the Color |
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| 10 Steve's Hammer (For Pete) |
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| 11 Days Aren't Long Enough |
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| 12 Way Down in the Hole |
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 "Washington Square Serenade")
