The Drop: Steve Earle

In conjunction with the Americana Music Association & 88.5FM KCSN, Sponsored by Amoeba MusicA protégé of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, multi GRAMMY award-winning musician, actor, author, playwright and activist, Steve Earle is a master storyteller whose songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez and countless others. Earle broke through in 1986 with the classic debut, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and paved the way for the alt-country sound of today.  Earle’s sixteenth studio album of his singular career, Terraplane (New West Records), is rooted in the blues he fell in love with growing up in Texas, exposed to blues giants like Freddy King, Lightnin’ Hopkins, Johnny Winter, Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughan, and Billy Gibbons. A reference to the Robert Johnson song “Terraplane Blues” as well as the 1930s Hudson of Detroit car model, the new original collection is his homage to the music that he calls “the commonest of human experience, perhaps the only thing that we all truly share” and a record he has wanted to make for a long time. It was written while touring Europe alone for five weeks with just a guitar, a mandolin and a backpack. Produced by R.S. Field, Earle and his longtime band The Dukes recorded the 11-track collection at House of Blues Studio D in Nashville. A well-known actor with acclaimed roles in HBO’s The Wire and Treme, Earle is currently in the just released film, The World Made Straight and can be seen in the upcoming film Dixieland later this year. His long awaited memoir “I Can’t Remember If We Said Goodbye” will be published by Grand Central Publishing/Hachette Book Group this year.  Join us on the night of Terraplane’s release as we celebrate Steve Earle. Following an interview with Vice President of MusiCares and the GRAMMY Foundation, Scott Goldman, Earle will perform.