Country rock stars coming to Newton Theatre

NEWTON — Following the example of his musical hero Townes Van Zandt, Steve Earle became a folk and country singer-songwriter. Earle's debut studio album, 1986's Guitar Town, met with both commercial and critical acclaim, with one track, "Goodbye's All We Got Left," landing on the country music chart's Top 10.
Two years after releasing Guitar Town, Earle completed his second album, Copperhead Road (1988), which also received wide applause. In 1990, following failed relationships and battles with addiction, he released The Hard Way, an emotional and somewhat darker project than his prior two releases. In 2009, Earle received his third Grammy (for best contemporary folk album) for his Townes Van Zandt-tribute album, Townes.
Earle’s newest album, Guy, is set to be released on March 29. Earle and his current, perhaps best ever, bunch of Dukes take on the songs of Guy Clark with a spirit of reverent glee and invention. The tunes are all over the place and so is the band, offering max energy on such disparate entries as the bluegrass rave-up “Sis Draper” and talking blues memoir of “Texas 1947.” Earle’s raw vocal on the sweet, sad “That Old Time Feeling” is heartbreaking, sounding close enough to the grave as to be doing a duet with his dead friend. Today, Steve Earle is regarded for successfully bridging the rock-country music gap, blending the two genres to create a new, beautifully unique style that few musicians have been able to replicate.
Steve Earle performs Friday, May 10 at 8 p.m. at The Newton Theatre, 234 Spring Street in Newton. Tickets start at $49 and are available for purchase at The Newton Theatre box office, online at www.TheNewtonTheatre.com, or by calling 973-940-NEWT.