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Music country and rock singer and songwriter Steve Earle pictures (pic) and photo gallery, albums covers pictures.
Birth name: Stephen Fain Earle. Born: January 17, 1955, Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia, USA. Steve Earle biography (bio): Stephen Fain Earle was born on January 17, 1955 at Fort Monroe in Hampton, Virginia. Legend has it that a box of Texas dirt, sent by his grandfather, was brought into the delivery room, so that it could be said that the first soil Earle's feet ever touched was Texas, although this is not reported by any significant source to which one could document this incident. He was the eldest son of Jack Earle, an air traffic controller, and Barbara Earle. Although his parents moved around the U.S. often during his childhood, he spent several of his formative years in Schertz, Texas. He dropped out of school in the 8th grade to move to Houston, Texas and learn more about the music business. One summer evening after seeing a Lynyrd Skynyrd concert, Earle went backstage and was given the advice of his life. A story that Earle repeats to this day is that "[Ronnie] Van Zant took his necklace off and put around my neck and said, 'Boy, if you work hard enough and believe in yourself, then you too can become a rock star someday.'" This advice was something that would turn out to be true, as Steve released his first album, Guitar Town in 1986. His sister, Stacey Earle, is a musician herself, having toured with Steve in the 1990s and singing on the song "When I Fall" on Steve's 2000 album "Transcendental Blues". Earle has been married seven times, including twice to the same woman. His wives were Sandra (Sandy) Henderson, Cynthia Dunn, Carol Hunter (with whom he had his first child, Justin), Lou-Anne Gill (with whom he had a second son, Ian), Maria Teresa Ensenat, Lou-Anne Gill a second time, and finally in 2005, singer-songwriter Allison Moorer. He also has a daughter. His first son, Justin Townes Earle, was named for Townes Van Zandt. Musical career: In 1975, he moved to Nashville, Tennessee where he met and worked with fellow Texans Guy Clark and his wife Susanna. Guy was instrumental in Steve being employed as a songwriter by the Sunburry Dunbar publishing division of RCA. Steve did backing vocals on Guy Clark's "Desperados Waiting For A Train" together with Emmylou Harris on Clark's first album "Old No 1". Despite his early success as a songwriter, it was not until 1981 that he achieved a top ten cut with "When You Fall in Love", which was recorded by Johnny Lee. His early work as a recorded performer was in the rockabilly style, and can be heard on the "Early Years" album. He had to wait until 1986, though, before his first proper album, "Guitar Town", was released. It was a critical success and sold over 300,000 copies. The follow-up albums "Exit 0" and "Copperhead Road" built on this success. Earle had been a drug user since an early age, and was addicted to heroin for many years. By the time of his 1990 album "The Hard Way", it started to become clear that the drugs were seriously affecting him. In 1993, his drug problems resulted in him effectively stopping performing and recording for two years, a period he refers to as his "vacation in the ghetto". He eventually ended up in jail on drug and firearms charges. Kicking the drug habit while in jail, Earle came out a new man and released two albums within 18 months of his release in late 1994. His comeback album, the acoustic Train A Comin', was nominated for the "Best Contemporary Folk Album" Grammy Award in 1996. Earle's "second, post-jail musical career" has been noticeably more musically diverse than his early work. Since setting up his own record label, he has been able to follow his own artistic direction, rather than being constrained by the Nashville country pop-rock sound. This has led to experimentation with a range of styles from country and bluegrass music to folk and hard rock music. He maintained a strict work ethic. Several albums have been released since, as well as a book of haiku and a collection of short stories called Doghouse Roses. He also wrote and directed a play about the death penalty. Earle also tours often, playing over 200 shows per year. His concerts tend to be either solo acoustic shows or ensemble affairs with one of his two backing bands, the Dukes or the Bluegrass Dukes. Earle appeared as a recovering drug addict named Waylon in two episode of the first season the the HBO series "The Wire". He addresses a 12-step-type meeting with an account of how he lost everything to addiction:"I pawned my bike, my pickup truck, a national steel guitar, lost a good wife, a bad girlfriend, and the respect of anyone who ever lent me money." He has reprised the role occasionally in subsequent seasons. Earle is the subject of a documentary film entitled Just an American Boy, directed by Amos Poe, which explores his political views as well as his music. In 2005, he caused consternation among his fans by allowing the song "The Revolution Starts Now" to be used by General Motors in a TV advertisement for pick-up trucks. In 2007, Earle's song, "Someday" off his 1986 hit record, Guitar Town was featured the movie Bridge to Terabithia. |
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