Steve Earle,
Live from Austin TX

  

Label: New West Records
Year: 2004

(4 out of 5)

By the time Guitar Town hit record bins in 1986, Steve Earle had spent more than a decade playing clubs in Nashville and Texas. So while Earle was a debut artist in the strictest sense of the term, he was more a music veteran than a naïve newcomer.

That experience is evident from Earle's easy on-stage manner on Live from Austin TX, the singer/songwriter's first appearance on Austin City Limits. Recorded September 12, 1986, Live from Austin TX captures one of Earle's first splashes in the national consciousness.

With just one album to his name, Earle and his Dukes performed every song off Guitar Town except one ("Someday"), including the career-defining title track. They also played more than half the tracks off Exit 0, which the band was still crafting in the studio.

Standouts here include the opening "Sweet Little '66," the heart-rending "Little Rock 'n' Roller," Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper," the autobiographical "The Week of Living Dangerously"…and of course those fabulous mid-80s fashions: white undershirts, denim jackets, ginormous Ray-Bans.

The Dukes are serviceable, though not spectacular. Except for those '80s fashions, the Dukes mostly melt into the background and let Earle hold the spotlight with his vocals, frequent primal yawps, and rhythm guitar.

Live from Austin TX is a fascinating portrait of the artist as a still-young man. Earle's voice hasn't yet suffered from the years of substance abuse, and he appears genuinely happy to be on the KLRU stage.

It may not be the most polished Austin City Limits episode ever recorded, but it makes a fine selection for the first set of releases from the program's archives.

Buy: Lone Star Music (CD, DVD), Amazon (CD, DVD)

December 20, 2004