Of Triumph, Tragedy and the Solace of Solitude With Steve Earle

Southern Songs and Stories

At any given time, we have a number of interviews waiting for their moments on an upcoming episode of this podcast series. Late 2024 is no exception, and may be an extreme, as there are several interviews from both the Earl Scruggs Festival as well as IBMA from recent months now in our cue. Hurricane Helene disrupted the tentative schedule for those conversations with the likes of Lindsay Lou, Mountain Home and Unspoken Tradition’s Ty Gilpin and many more being put on hold, as I pivoted to covering the storm’s impact on music in the region. If you did not hear it already, I encourage you to go back one episode to “Songs Of Grief, Songs Of Hope: Helene’s Aftermath For The Western NC Music Scene” for a glimpse into what dominated (and continues to dominate in many ways) our thoughts and our experiences in early fall 2024.

It was a mild surprise, then, to steer back into a “normal” fashion here, picking out a gem of a conversation from earlier in the year only to find that tragic loss was top of mind for my guest, Steve Earle. “There’s that sorrow and loss theme again,” I thought. How weird is that?

It is not all gloom here though, not by a long shot, so please do not let that dissuade you from pressing ‘play’ here. Although Steve lost his friend and colleague Jeremy Tepper just two days before, he was in overall good spirits, as he talks about his rigorous solo tour, his relationship with his music before becoming sober, his favorite cover songs from both artists covering his music and vice versa, aspirations to record Irish music and perhaps even a jazz record, and memories of growing up in the midst of musical greats like Doug Sahm. It is a deep and insightful conversation from the Hall Of Fame songwriter, which even includes mention of his love of North Carolina trout fishing. Along the way, we hear excerpts of music from Steve Earle’s latest album, Alone Again (Live), as well as both his favorite cover songs — an Emmylou Harris cover of one of his songs, and his own version of a Bob Dylan classic.

Steve Earle

Songs heard in this episode:

“CCKMP” by Steve Earle, from Alone Again (Live)

“I Ain’t Ever Satisfied” by Steve Earle, from Alone Again (Live), excerpt

“Goodye” by Emmylou Harris, from Wrecking Ball, excerpt

“My Back Pages” by Steve Earle, from Sidetracks, excerpt

“Copperhead Road” by Steve Earle, from Alone Again (Live)

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This series is a part of the lineup of both public radio WNCW and Osiris Media, with all of the Osiris shows available here. You can also hear new episodes on Bluegrass Planet Radio here. Thanks also to Jaclyn Anthony for producing the radio adaptations of this series on WNCW, where we worked with Joshua Meng, who wrote and performed our theme songs — you can link to his music here. This is Southern Songs and Stories: the music of the South and the artists who make it. - Joe Kendrick