No other American songwriter is on a stronger roll than Steve Earle. Since being released from prison 7 years ago and overcoming the drug problems that put him in--Steve has rebounded with 6 critically acclaimed albums worth of great stuff. As usual Steve comes out of his corner growling and uses his patented country-rock chops to address topics as diverse as International politics, to matters of the heart, and yet keeps it all very listenable with his deft touch and lively song-crafting.
Earle has got a lot of play in the press because of the controversial track, "John Walker's Blues." It's been attacked from the right as outright sedition and supported on the left as a reaffirmation of our constitutional freedom of expression, but the truth is, it's just a simple song that tells a story without taking a side. The truly remarkable song on the record "The Kind" comes next and to me is a reaffirmation of why Steve is one of my favorite Americans.