Steve Earle
I dig Steve Earle. In a little while I'll get around to reviewing his albums & telling you why I think he's got the goods. In the meantime, have you heard of his little sister, Stacey?

Stacey Earle "Dancin' With Them That Brought Me" (Gearle Records, 2000)
Steve's little sister Stacey currently looms on the horizon as a big star in the acoustic folk scene. She's an endearing performer who's been pegged as having a more than slight vocal resemblance to Nanci Griffith, yet on her latest self-released record we find Earle moving steadily away from the Nanci-soundalike style of her previous album, into broader musical territory. Her voice still registers as chirpy, but with warmer and more confident phrasing. Likewise, her arrangements have expanded to include the sort of compelling pop-folk melodicism that lures listeners towards artists such as Slaid Cleaves and Dar Williams. Most importantly, Earle's a great songwriter, with a knack for a bouncy melody and a memorable chorus (particularly on the album's centerpiece, "Is It Enough?"). Like her well-known older brother, Stacey Earle's lyrics have an elusive, almost mystifying, quality -- along with a faint whiff of an autumn breeze on a back porch swing. Keep an eye on this gal.

Stacey Earle & Mark Stuart "Must Be Live" (Evolver, 2003)
A nice live set with Earle and her touring/life partner, guitarist Mark Stuart. Live, her likeness to Nanci Griffith becomes even more pronounced ("Thank yeww!") although her folkiness is also more to the fore. I guess I prefer her studio work, although these are fine, fragile, friendly folk performances. Fans will be pleased.

Joe Eddie "Who The Hell Is Joe Eddie?" (Lost Highway, 2003)
Although some of his roots-rockin' tunes are a little too slick and (would-be) commercial for me, this still-under-the radar John Haitt-like songwriter has some good tunes, stuff that'll draw you in, no matter how indier-than-thou you are. Some of these songs (including some of the fun ones) are clearly alt-y bait, like "Sh*thole Bar" and "F**king Forty," and while they're fun the first time around, they outstay their welcome on repeat listens. Other songs, like "Lowlife" and "Play Some Skynyrd" are pretty durable. It's not all novelty material, either: there are some serious songs on here as well, though they tend to be really downcast and a little overproduced. Worth checking out, though!

E*I*E*I*O "Land Of Opportunity" (Frontier, 1986)

E*I*E*I*O "That Love Thang" (Frontier, 1988)

Eleven Hundred Springs "No Stranger To The Blues" (2000)
A nice strong set of old-fashioned hard country shuffles; these Texan ex-rockabilly rebels have a nice feel for the old country stuff, penning and picking sweet, simple novelty songs worthy of Ernest Tubb and Buck Owens. Plenty of rough edges and shortcomings, but also plenty of heart and fun songwriting. Worth checking out!

Eleven Hundred Springs "A Straighter Line" (EHS, 2001)

Eleven Hundred Springs "Broken Dreams" (Last Beat, 2003)
This 5-song EP catches the band in a mellower mode, with somewhat richer production and some sweet songs. Singer Kim Pendleton, late of the band Vibrolux, joins the group, adding some nice Rosanne Cash-ish vocals on a few tunes. There are still rough spots, but they do have the makings of a really great band. Nice pedal steel.

Eleven Hundred Springs "Bandwagon" (Compendia/Palo Duro, 2004)
This Austin-area altie band has really grown by leaps and bounds... where their earlier releases had shown promise, this disc delivers the goods. It opens with "Northside Blues," an organ-based, Doug Sahm-styled groover with an irresistible hook, and slides right into one of the finest sets of modern-day Texas outlaw music in recent memory. Sure, some of the songs are a little too on the nose, like two titled "Long-Haired Tattooed Hippie Freaks" and "Hank Williams Wouldn't Make It In Nashville Today," but the music is so darn nice, it's really not a problem. These guys might have had to study up a bit to get the whole pot-smokin' hippiebilly thing down just right, but I'm sure glad they did... They might just wind up being one of the best indie country bands of the decade! Check 'em out.

Joe Ely - see artist discography

Mark Erelli "Mark Erelli" (Signature Sounds, 1999)

Mark Erelli "Compass And Companion" (Signature Sounds, 2001)
Folk-tinged singer-songwriter country-rock with solid musicianship and fairly dense, lofty songwriting... A mix of Nick Lowe and Greg Brown comes to mind, with anthemic, insistent melodies on many songs, and a few drifting, lamentably Lanois-ed out guitar lines... Kelly Willis guests on the title track, "Compass And Companion," one of the album's highlights. Nice, if you go for the wordy, pensive stuff.

Mark Erelli "Memorial Hall Recordings" (Signature Sounds, 2002)

Mark Erelli "The Hillbilly Pilgrim" (Signature Sounds, 2003)
Laying heavy on the thumpin' backbeat, Erelli delves deeper into honkytonk, western swing and rockabilly and gets a little less brainy and deep. Sounds pretty nice... Some of his originals rest pretty comfortably in the classic hard country mode, and could easily be covered by others. Plus, I just realized who he sounds like, not that his vocal style has really started to gel: none other than superpicker Albert Lee, who I still kinda have a soft spot for, left over from my teen years. Nice record; worth checking out if you want some new twang tunes with a little bit of extra depth.

Alejandro Escovedo "With These Hands" (Rykodisc, 1996)
I have to confess (and I know it's so totally not cool to say so...) but I've never been much of an Alejandro Escovedo fan... I mean, I know people say he's a great songwriter and all, and I'm sure he's a swell guy who's done all kinds of great stuff for the indie scene, but as far as his songs go, they're a little too dense for me (or maybe I'm too dense for them?) and I just don't have the patience to try and figure out what he's writing about. This album is a good example: it wobbles back and forth through various musical styles, with melodic moments that appeal to me and start to draw me in, balanced by passages that seem thick and mannered, often in blues-based pop-rock mode that seems leaden or overly-precise. There's also a Springsteen-y edge that I personally don't go for... I mean, I think I could get into it, if I wanted to, but I just don't feel that motivated. Still, if you like intelligently crafted singer-songwriter material, stuff where the songwriting is worn on one's sleeves (think, Springsteen, Townes Van Zandt, Robert Earl Keen, Dave Alvin...) then this disc might really ring your bells. Willie Nelson and his band guest on "Nickel And A Spoon"; several members of the Escovedo clan (including Pete and Sheila E.) appear elsewhere...

Alejandro Escovedo "More Miles Than Money -- Live: 1994-96" (Bloodshot, 1998)
From Austin to Paris, France, this disc follows Escovedo across the globe, in full altie-troubadour mode... Here he's performing with a stripped-down ensemble, either a four- or a six-piece band, and on the more direct tunes, such as "Pissed Off 2am," or "Last To Know" (which is where the album title comes from), he's pretty appealing. Often, I still find his songs dense and overreaching, but I can see some of his appeal here better than on his studio records. Worth checking out.

Alejandro Escovedo "Bourbonitis Blues" (Bloodshot, 1999)
An interesting, stripped-down set which includes guest turns by fellow Bloodshot labelmates Jon Langford (yawn) and Kelly Hogan (okay, I guess) and an interesting selection of cover tunes, including John Cale's "Amsterdam," Lou Reee's "Pale Blue Eyes" and an odd, whimsically slowed-down version of Jeffrey Lee Pierce's "Sex Beat," one of the best Gun Club songs ever. Escovedo seems much more expressive and able to project emotionally than on earlier albums; whether it's an increased comfortability in the studio, or changes in his personal life, I don't know... But he does seem much more direct and less buried under the music than before. Anyway, this one's worth checking out.

Val Esway & El Mirage "Lovers, Losers, Liars" (Self-Released, 2005)
A charming self-produced 7-song EP from an SF Bay Area local has a strong whiff of Tarnation-style twang-meets-torch. A veteran of rock's Ramona The Pest and twang's Loretta Lynch band, singer-writer Esway scores a base hit (if not a homer) with the catchy opening track, "Someone I Used To Know," which has a nice, old-school country feel to it, and shows ever deeper roots on the sweet, Carter Family-flavored "Birds." This is amateur-hour, open-mic night stuff, and that's a big part of its earnest, open-hearted charm. If you like your twang to be locally grown, then you might want to check this gal out. (Available through www.staggeringsiren.com. )

Val Esway & El Mirage "Pretend To Believe" (Staggering Siren, 2007)
The SF Bay Area's indiebilly scene is well represented on this new album from songwriter Val Esway, formerly of the twangband Loretta Lynch... The disc opens with some thumping honkytonkers, "Whiskey Trail" and "Sweet Thing," and settles into a more introspective, poetic mode, on songs like "Birthday" and "Pretend To Believe," songs that bring melancholy folk divas like Linda Thompson, et al to mind alongside twangsters... With the exception of a Doc Watson tune at the end of the album, all the songs are Esway originals... Most of the lyrics tap into the sad side of the country tradition, but there's an underlying feeling of joy, doubtless the artist's own satisfaction from a job well done! (Available through Esway's own website, www.staggeringsiren.com)

John Evans "Biggest Fool In Town" (Shakebush Records, 1998)
A mixed bag, but generally pretty good... This lanky Houstonite reaches back into rockabilly and hard country traditions, penning several fine original tunes and shuffling along with a band that seems to have its heart in the right place. He's best on the uptempo numbers -- a couple of Chris Isaak-y ballads towards the album's end fall a bit flat, and some of the songs could have been a little tighter, but mostly this is a fine album... Musically, I'd place it somewhere around the level of Deadly Earnest & The Honkytonk Heroes... a little sloppy, but that's how you know it's real folks playing the music!

Sara Evans "Three Chords And A Heartbreak" (RCA-Nashville, 1997)
OK, sure, given her eventual huge success as a Nashville Top 40 artist, it might be a little bit of a stretch to call Sara Evans' debut album "alt.country..." Still, her traditionalist throwback sound was unique for Nashville back when this album first came out .. Sure, there, have been neo-traditionalists up the wazoo in recent decades, but on this record, Evans struck a peculiarly rural note, particularly in her gruff vocals, which bear a remarkable resemblance to Melba Montgomery... What's cooler still is that a couple of the songs on here were actually co-written by Montgomery, so the likeness was no mere coincidence! From and alt-y point of view, later albums were a bit of a letdown, drifting into sappier, bombastic pop terrain, but this disc was pretty swell, and Evans is certainly an artist to keep an eye on... Who knows? Maybe she'll go country again!

Don & Phil -- The Everly Brothers

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Hick Music Index

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