Steve Earle has had an odd career. Ostensibly a country artist, he has always been way too political for country radio in the US. Surprisingly, he has enjoyed a robust popularity in Canada. Albums like Guitar Town went multi-platinum in Canada, and he could sell out arenas here while he was struggling for acceptance at home. Drug problems, some pretty inflammatory political opinions, a constantly changing style, and a penchant for divorce have not helped him gain the mainstream.

I first heard of him though my friend Todd Baker, who had learned and played many of his songs. Copperhead Road was the first song I really got. I always love songs that give you a sense of place, and his tale of drug dealers and moonshiners in the deep south was a high-water mark. In fact, one of my own tunes, French Perfume, is a direct tribute to this song. Around the time Copperhead Road was released, maybe 1992, I interviewed him before a show in St. John's. I was impressed by the depth of his intellect and curiousity. I asked one question, and he talked for almost three hours, ranging over his youth, American politics, folklore, the mechanics of mandolins, and why the Pogues were even a bigger bunch of f*ck-ups then his own band. I only used a tenth of it in the story I wrote; I wished I'd kept the tapes.

From the ‘comeback' album El Corazon, Telephone Road is another great song, one of those that only lives in a particular place. His lyrics are brilliant at printing a vivid picture of the grime and flash that is the oil towns of Texas. When I was a teenager, many of my friends' brothers and uncles were starting to lead the exodus to the Alberta oilfields. Older guys would come home at Xmas and in the summer, driving big cars, wearing fancy cowboy boots, impressing us with their tales of easy money rough-necking in the Leduc. Earle knew those guys too. Far removed from the raucous sounds of Copperhead-era Earle, the song is relaxed, and he almost speaks the words, over an unlikely (and perfect) doo-wop back-up band. Earle's older brothers are mentioned just a couple of times, but you can hear the envy and yearning of the brother left at home, and the triumph of living your own dream.

Earle's career has taken a few turns since this song came out, but he's worth waiting around for. Not many artists can reinvent themselves over and over again, and still keep it interesting.

My brother Jimmy, my other brother Jack
Went off down to Houston and they never come back
Mama wasn't gonna let her baby go yet
But there ain't nobody hirin' back in Lafeyette

I'm workin' all week for the Texaco check
Sun beatin' down on the back of my neck
Tried to save my money but Jimmy says no
Says he's got a little honey on Telephone Road

-Telephone Road, Steve Earle