STEVE EARLE in Billings

STEVE EARLE

STEVE EARLE

Saturday, Aug 04, 2012  08:00 PM - 11:00 PM

STEVE EARLE

  Performance
Saturday, August 4
The Babcock Theater
Doors open at 7:15 pmThis show is being produced by Magic City Blues, Mojo 92.5 and Ken Schlenker.  Tickets are $32 for general admission and can be purchased at Hansen Music, 1819 Grand Avenue, online at www.magiccityblues.com, or by phone at 406-534-0400.

 Over the past three decades, Steve Earle has established himself as a kind
of rootsy Renaissance man: The Texas-bred songwriter is also a political activist, radio host, rocker, actor, and playwright. Early on he was a bandleader equally smitten with bouncy twang and brawny thud (no wonder he has shared bills with both George Jones and The Replacements). These days he’s known as the smart dude with the big heart, writing a heap
of provocative political tunes that stand up for the little guy. After overcoming a heroin addiction that derailed his career in the 1990s, he’s become a widely respect, highly dependable workhorse.

Son of an air traffic controller, Earle was raised near San Antonio, where he spent a rebellious adolescence as a long-haired Vietnam War opponent with country music sympathies. He got serious fast. At 13 he grabbed a guitar. At 16 he left home. At 19 he married the first of his five wives. And, living in Houston, he met one of his key influences: songwriter Townes Van Zandt. Moving to Nashville, Earle fell in with a left-of-center crowd of talented songwriters. It’s not every kid who hits Music City and becomes Guy Clark’s bassist. For the next few years he traversed between Texas and Tennessee, making contacts, and fine-tuning his craft. Johnny Lee, Carl Perkins, and Patty Loveless each recorded at an Earle tune.

The 2000s were an active time for Earle. He moved to New York City with his wife, singer Allison Moorer. He landed an intermittent role as an ex-addict named Walon in HBO’s acclaimed show about the Baltimore streets, ‘The Wire’. He wrote and staged a play entitled ‘Karla’, about the first Texas women since the Civil War to suffer the death penalty, in 2005. He hosted a talked show on the short-lived Air America channel and spun outlaw country sounds on Sirius Satellite Radio.

  Earle’s son Justin Townes Earle, himself a professional singer with records on the Bloodshot label, was named after his dad’s early mentor, Townes Van Zandt. In 2009 Earle formalized his celebration of his friend, who died on New Years Day 1997, with a CD of his songs entitled Townes. It’s an inventive tribute, full of strong imagery and unusual arrangements.
Check out his music at www.steveearle.com.

Categories: Concerts & Tour Dates