From the American dissident and the addicted worry child of Nashville, Steve Earle has evolved into a red-blooded American with the heart in the right place. Yet this singer / songwriter always carries something with him from the years he lived in the gutter. It can be heard in the rawness of his music and his lived performance. Earle, who likes to include it in his songs for the underdog, means
… what he propagates and this makes him a stand-alone artist who transcends any americana cliché. He seems to do what he likes, like playing the blues with his regular backing band The Dukes. Terraplane is full of it: raw blues, played on solid rocking electric guitars, supplemented with a scratching harmonica while Earle tells a dangerous growling story. As a blues singer, Earle knows how to convince, breathing new life into (blues) clichés and mixing them with his personal world. This makes the unadorned Terraplane another typical Steve Earle record. A bonus DVD with interviews and behind the scenes has been added to this deluxe version of Terraplane. (MR)more
