Steve Earle & the Dukes

TERRAPLANE

This is a major blues event.

It's always exciting when an internationally-acclaimed artist who is usually associated with another genre of music expresses a deep connection to the blues. And few have done so as eloquently or powerfully as multi-Grammy Award-winning musician, singer, songwriter, novelist, poet and actor Steve Earle.

From the official press release:

As its title suggests, TERRAPLANE is very much a blues record, a third of which was written while Earle toured Europe alone for five weeks with just a guitar, a mandolin and a backpack.  Earle, who was raised outside of San Antonio before migrating to Houston, offers about Texas blues, “There was Fort Worth where the model was Freddy King, and there was the Houston scene which was dominated by Lightnin’ Hopkins.  Two very different styles.”  He saw both of these giants, and was also exposed to Johnny Winter, Jimmy and Stevie Ray Vaughn, and Billy Gibbons, all of which make their influence heard here within Earle’s masterful storytelling. 

Earle states in the Terraplane album liner notes, “…the blues are anything but superficial.  In fact, they run so deep and dark and close to the bone that folks walk around everyday with the blues as though it were perfectly natural for a human being to go on living with a broken heart (apologies to Tony Kushner).”  He continues, “For my part, I've only ever believed two things about the blues: one, that they are very democratic, the commonest of human experience, perhaps the only thing that we all truly share and two, that one day, when it was time, I would make this record.”

There is a wealth of great blues on this record, with echoes of Jimmy Reed, Mance Lipscomb, Lightnin' Hopkins, and even blues-era Rolling Stones. And what a treat it is to hear a world-class poet and lyricist like Steve Earle lend his unique vision to the words and bring his storytelling to the blues.  Check out his powerful version of the crossroads legend on "The Tennessee Kid." The band is Steve's touring band, The Dukes (Kelly Looney, Will Rigby, Chris Masterson and Eleanor Whitmore), laying it down with the kind of relaxed "nothing to prove" groove that only real pros can handle.

I have a number of favorites on the record, but for pure blues feeling, I'd recommend you give a deep listen to track #6, "The Usual Time." Please click the YouTube link below to listen...

Steve Earle & the Dukes, "The Usual Time", from Terraplane Blues.

This is a gorgeous-sounding record, produced by R.S. Field (Buddy Guy, John Mayall), engineered by Earle’s longtime production partner Ray Kennedy and recorded at House of Blues Studio D in Nashville, TN. So it's a pleasure to listen to on many levels.

Terraplane will be available as a single compact disc, deluxe CD/DVD, digitally, as well as 180g vinyl. The deluxe version of the album will include 24-bit high-res audio of the album as well as a long-form interview between Earle and acclaimed journalist Mark Jacobson, 3 live, acoustic songs filmed on the porch of House of Blues Studio D, and a behind-the-scenes short film about the making of the album.

Release date is in just a few days. Pre-order links are below. 

Richard Rosenblatt

VizzTone / Vizzable