Earle pays tribute to "Jerry Jeff"

J.T.

When a child buries a parent, it's the natural order of things. The old make way for the young, hopefully content that they have passed along enough wisdom and strength of character to help them survive and prosper. But when a parent buries a child, the natural order is subverted in tragic fashion as an almost impenetrable grief grips the parent, a spiraling descent into an unfillable void of physical loss, unrealized potential and profound regret, whether justified or not. ...

Ghosts of West Virginia

In a time when political views are pushing us further apart as a society, Steve Earle is one of the few artists reaching across that divide to seek common ground. In the case of his album, "Ghosts of West Virginia," Earle finds that common ground in the 2010 Upper Big Branch mining explosion that took the live of 29 miners in West Virginia, a state generally separated from Earle's political leanings by a divide larger than the massive Appalachian Mountain Range that defines the region. ...

GUY

A decade after recording his tribute to Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle has released an album of Guy Clark covers. It includes, perhaps, Clark's best-known songs, "L.A. Freeway" and "Desperados Waiting For A Train," as well as a slew of songs not known quite so well. Most significantly, it's an album that showcases the breadth of Clark's work. Clark was a songwriter's songwriter, something many of the best Americana songwriters - including Earle - know well. ...