Last summer Steve Earle brought his solo acoustic Alone Again tour to the UK including a great evening at the Barbican in London. The set list that night ran to 23 songs starting with his cover of The Pogues’ ‘If I Should Fall From Grace With God’ and closing with Earle’s own ‘Jerusalem’. The set comprised mainly originals but included a number of covers one of which was a moving take on the late Justin Townes Earle’s ‘Harlem River Incident’. He seems to have been touring it pretty much ever since.
In regards to the tour, Earle said ”So, October before last I woke up without a band. I had toured with one version of the Dukes or another since 1982, but the real continuous bloodline of the outfit died with my long-time bass player, Kelly Looney, in 2019. So, it seemed I’d come to a crossroads. Left? Right? I chose BACK. Back to performing solo like I did in coffeehouses when I first started.”
Earle has announced the release on 12th July 2024 of “Alone Again (Live)”, a truncated record of the tour set and without any of the three tracks referenced above. The 15-song record will feature live recordings from 2023 tour dates, including his classic hits ‘Copperhead Road’, ‘The Galway Girl’, ‘Guitar Town’ and more.
The full album track listing is below and you can pre-save on this link.
1. The Devil’s Right Hand
2. My Old Friend The Blues
3. Someday
4. Guitar Town
5. I Ain’t Ever Satisfied
6. Now She’s Gone
7. Goodbye
8. Sparkle and Shine
9. South Nashville Blues
10. CCKMP
11. Transcendental Blues
12. It’s About Blood
13. Dominick St.
14. The Galway Girl
15. Copperhead Road
‘Copperhead Road’ is one of Earle’s best-known songs and his most streamed, standing at over 175+ million on Spotify. The song is so cherished by people living in Tennessee that on 20th April 2023, it became the 11th official state song of the state of Tennessee. On 24th May 2024, there was also an unveiling of the official Copperhead Road Landmark in honour of Earle’s song which honoured its local connection and significance. The acoustic live version has been released as a single and you can listen to it here.
Seeing him in Bristol
@ St Georges was one of my gig highlights of 2023. As my pal said at the time, an Earle newcomer, “this fella is a force of nature”!
Pic. from St. Georges.