ANOTHER VOICE STEVE EARLE WOULD TAKE A GRAMMY, BUT HE'S GOT OTHER THINGS TO SING ABOUT.Byline: Fred Shuster Music Writer Steve Earle Steve Earle (born Stephen Fain Earle January 17, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter, well known for his rock and country music, as well as for his many political views. He is also a published writer, a political activist and has written and directed a play. is every which way but lazy. During the making of a dozen albums over 20 years, the Years, The the seven decades of Eleanor Pargiter’s life. [Br. Lit.: Benét, 1109] See : Time industrious, politically charged troubadour troubadour One of a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians, often of knightly rank, that flourished from the 11th through the 13th century, chiefly in Provence and other regions of southern France, northern Spain, and northern Italy. has penned a set of short stories, co-founded a theater company, dropped 60 pounds on the Atkins diet Atkins Diet Definition The Atkins diet is a high-protein, high-fat, and very low-carbohydrate regimen. It emphasizes meat, cheese, and eggs, while discouraging foods such as bread, pasta, fruit, and sugar. It is a form of ketogenic diet. , acted in an HBO Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBO) A form of oxygen therapy in which the patient breathes oxygen in a pressurized chamber. Mentioned in: Ozone Therapy series, got hooked on smack, gone to jail and has been through rehab. Clean for a decade, Earle is a tireless opponent of capital punishment capital punishment, imposition of a penalty of death by the state. History Capital punishment was widely applied in ancient times; it can be found (c.1750 B.C.) in the Code of Hammurabi. and the war in Iraq. In September, just after the release of his now Grammy Award-nominated album, ``The Revolution Starts ... Now,'' with its blistering critique of U.S. foreign policy and the loss of personal freedoms, he received the Spirit of Americana Free Speech Award during the third annual Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville. Along with a vigorous, left-leaning social conscience, Earle's music sets him apart. At the start of his career, the landmark 1986 set ``Guitar Town'' knocked down the wall between rock and country, heralding the arrival of a blunt blue-collar voice able to put across politics both personal and universal in songs that caught fire across the land. Other musical highlights include Earle's moving ``Ellis Unit One,'' a track featured on the 1996 soundtrack of the film ``Dead Man Walking,'' which artfully describes the wounds of capital punishment through the eyes of an emotionally damaged Death Row guard. The compelling bluegrass bluegrass, any species of the large and widely distributed genus Poa, chiefly range and pasture grasses of economic importance in temperate and cool regions. In general, bluegrasses are perennial with fine-leaved foliage that is bluish green in some species. disc ``The Mountain,'' recorded with the Del McCoury Band The Del McCoury Band is a Grammy Award-winning bluegrass band. Originally Del McCoury and the Dixie Pals with Del on guitar and his brother Jerry on bass, the band went through a number of changes until the 1980s when the band solidified its line-up, adding McCoury's sons, Ronnie , was issued in 1999. More recently, Earle has written and performed poetry and fiction, presented excerpts from works-in-progress at the New Yorker Festival, and published the short-story anthology ``Doghouse Roses.'' He also stirred up controversy with the song ``John Walker's Blues,'' about John Walker Linde, an American considered a traitor for joining the Taliban. ``Steve has a complicated set of interests and he does what he wants,'' said Danny Goldberg Danny Goldberg, President of Gold Village Entertainment (GVE), has worked in the music business as a personal manager, record company President, public relations man, and journalist since the late 1960s. He has returned to personal management. , the outgoing chairman/CEO of Artemis Records Artemis Records was a New York-based independent record label, founded in July 1999 by former chairman/CEO Danny Goldberg and closed in January of 2004. The label, distributed by Koch Entertainment, was home to a diverse group of artists including Crossbreed, Steve Earle, , the label that signed Earle six years ago. ``When you're lucky enough to work with artists who have such depth of emotion and commitment, you let them do the driving. He's compulsively productive, a dervish dervish (dûr`vĭsh), see fakir; Rumi, Jalal ad-Din. dervish In Islam, a member of a Sufi fraternity. These mystics stressed emotional aspects of devotion through ecstatic trances, dancing, and whirling. of creative energy, and he's very good to the people around him. I consider Steve one of the joys of my life.'' Goldberg will attend Sunday's Grammy ceremony at Staples Center This article has multiple issues: * Its neutrality is disputed. * It may contain original research or unverifiable claims. * It does not cite any references or sources. with Earle, who's up for two awards: best solo rock vocal performance for the title track ``The Revolution Starts Now'' and best contemporary folk album for the long-player itself. Earle and his stellar backup band A backing band or backup band is a band which accompanies an artist at a live performance or on a recording. This can either be an established group or an ad hoc group assembled for the purpose. Such groups are often made up of session musicians. the Dukes appear Friday at the Henry Fonda Theatre. Grammy-nominated a total of 10 times (he's never taken one of the coveted cov·et v. cov·et·ed, cov·et·ing, cov·ets v.tr. 1. To feel blameworthy desire for (that which is another's). See Synonyms at envy. 2. To wish for longingly. See Synonyms at desire. golden gramophones home to Nashville), Earle just added yet more work to a busy schedule. He's signed on to host a weekly radio program on the Air America network called ``The Revolution Starts Now,'' broadcast at 7 p.m. Sundays on Los Angeles' new left-wing talker KTLK-AM (1150). We caught Earle - who's been married six times and is the father of sons ages 17 and 22 - on his 50th birthday last month to find the point where poet, rebel and artist meet. Q: Among your current batch of songs is ``F the CC,'' obviously about the Federal Communications Commission Federal Communications Commission (FCC), independent executive agency of the U.S. government established in 1934 to regulate interstate and foreign communications in the public interest. and the climate of media censorship. A: The airwaves have to stay in the hands of the people - without government intrusion. People should be allowed to express themselves. But deregulation Deregulation The reduction or elimination of government power in a particular industry, usually enacted to create more competition within the industry. Notes: Traditional areas that have been deregulated are the telephone and airline industries. allowed corporations to own more and more TV and radio stations and newspapers in the same market, which was a direct reversal of where things stood. We don't have a state-owned media here. It's crucial the airwaves remain free. That concept, which is one of the foundations of this country, is under assault today. You've got the FCC (1) (Federal Communications Commission, Washington, DC, www.fcc.gov) The U.S. government agency that regulates interstate and international communications including wire, cable, radio, TV and satellite. The FCC was created under the U.S. , which was originally designed to do nothing more than regulate dial positions and keep track of radio frequencies, handing out fines to broadcasters. And, yeah, you can also read the ``CC'' in the song as Clear Channel. Q: Can a song really change anyone's mind or are you just preaching to the choir? A: I still believe music is the most effective way to reach someone's heart and mind. And it can make a difference, judging by people telling me a song like ``Ellis Unit One'' forced them to think another way about the death penalty, whether they wanted to or not. It can be that subtle. I'm not saying anyone changed their vote because of ``The Revolution Starts ... Now,'' but some things needed to be said there. Q: You campaigned for Sen. John Kerry and saw him lose to President Bush. Was that hard to swallow? A: Kerry didn't lose by that much, but I really felt things would turn around at the finish line. We had the highest voter turnout we've seen in a long, long time and it was really close. Was it a referendum on gay marriage and abortion or did people think Kerry wasn't a natural leader? It was all those things. I was optimistic, but I'm not cynical today. I'm constantly fighting the tendency toward cynicism. You look at the lives and money being thrown away in Iraq, all the chaos and general insanity, and you just pray it'll end soon. Because the whole thing was about oil and that's been a complete failure. The correlation between Sept. 11 and Iraq was a lie. But, hey, man, I remember Vietnam was stopped while Nixon was in office - so it can be done. Q: You've been a Grammy contender eight times before this year. Are you finally gonna win this time - and do you even care? A: It's like someone else said - everybody wants to win a Grammy. Because in the categories I'm nominated in, it really is about the work and it's voted on by other workers down at the plant. It gets away from the daily business of music. (Blues/country artist) Dave Alvin was right when he said it's the engine room guys at that point. Categories like folk and jazz and blues can't be manipulated like the top categories. There's not a whole lot of money involved. The stakes aren't that high. So there's more honesty there. But, yeah, I wouldn't mind winning - but if I don't, I'm not gonna lose any sleep. Fred Shuster, (818) 713-3676 fred.shuster(at)dailynews.com STEVE EARLE & THE DUKES Where: Henry Fonda Theatre, 6126 Hollywood Blvd., Hollywood. When: 8:30 p.m. Friday. Tickets: $25. Call (213) 480-3232; ticketmaster.com. 47th ANNUAL GRAMMY AWARDS What: Kanye West, up for 10 trophies, performs with hip-hop newcomer John Legend, r&b great Mavis Staples, and fellow nominees the Blind Boys of Alabama. Also, Bonnie Raitt and Billy Preston sing in honor of Ray Charles, and Tim McGraw, Keith Urban, Gretchen Wilson, some Skynyrds of the Lynyrd variety, and ax-slingers Dickie Betts (Allman Brothers Band) and Elvin Bishop celebrate Southern rock. Plus, newlyweds Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony warble as a duo for the first time in public. Presenters include Norah Jones, Ludacris, John Travolta and Gary Sinise. Queen Latifah hosts. Where: CBS (Cell Broadcast Service) See cell broadcast. (Channel 2). When: 8 p.m. Sunday. CAPTION(S): 3 photos Photo: (1 -- cover -- color) Steve Earle Not glamorous (obviously), but outspoken troubadour is a Grammy nominee, too (2) no caption (Steve Earle) (3) no caption (Grammy award) |
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