If you're someone who's satisfied with the policies of the current administration, support the war in Iraq and voted for George W. Bush this past November, chances are you skipped Texan native and rock veteran Steve Earle and his band The Dukes performing Friday night at the Henry Fonda Theater.
Earle, from a small town outside San Antonio, played most of his songs off his new album "The Revolution Starts ... Now," a collection of musical stories that personify his disdain for the current political climate in America and his stance against the invasion of Iraq. The album interestingly weaves his personal opinions by telling the tales of an array of personalities (including himself and his family's history), some based in fiction and some in reality, who observe war from varying perspectives.
During the recording process, Earle and The Dukes - drummer Will Rigby, bassist Kelly Looney, guitarist Eric "Roscoe" Ambel, percussionist Patrick Earle and several others - worked 12- to 14-hour days inside a studio in Tennessee. In between breaks, they would talk about "the war, the election, baseball and women, in precisely that order," he said. The album was recorded in the spring of 2004 since it was Earle's goal to put out a record that would weigh on issues affecting the country before the presidential election took place last fall.
"The Revolution Starts ... Now" is dedicated to the late Johnny Cash and Warren Zevon and released on Artemis Records. It's the 16th album of Earle's career that spans 30 years.
The work just earned Earle a Grammy for Best Contemporary Folk Album at Sunday's 47th annual awards ceremony. Earle has been nominated for nine Grammys throughout his career.
Born in Virginia where his father was stationed as an air traffic controller, Earle relocated to Texas with his family, grew up in a small town about 17 miles north of San Antonio and received his first guitar at the age of 11. At the age of 19, Earle left Texas for Nashville. Since then, he has been married six times to five different women and hit rock bottom as a junkie when he was arrested and sent to prison for possession of narcotics. He was paroled in 1994 and finally resurfaced as an alt-country legend.
On Friday, Earle, who is no stranger to writing socially and politically significant tunes, pontificated on the power of the working class, his fondness for Marxism and his beloved state of Texas.
Just as the recorded version of the song "The Revolution Will Not Be Televised" by Gil Scott-Heron faded out, Earle opened the show with the new album's title track. Its chorus is one which stays in the head because of its unique emphasis on certain syllables (Yeah, The Rev-O-Lution Starts Now.)
Earle then shifted gears and sang the country "Home to Houston" with a vocal twang that fits the character he becomes - a Texan soldier who seems disillusioned with the war and prays for home. Earle's tone captures the naivete of a young man questioning the Iraq war who then adopts a new appreciation for life and swears he'll do different if he can safely return to his country - "And I offered this prayer to my lord/I said, "God get me back home to Houston alive/And I won't drive a truck anymore."
Just in the same way Michael Moore's documentary "Fahrenheit 9/11" argues those without resources to attain upward mobility join the Armed Forces, sometimes become soldiers of war and inevitably pawns of white rich men, so does Earle's song "Rich Man's War."
"I have a lot of money for a borderline Marxist," said Earle. "This war was started by white rich men who are not going and their kids aren't going." Earle touched on the issue of the draft and said as long as there are young poor men who want a job or an education, there will be an endless supply of fire for the Bush administration. He then dedicated the song to the troops overseas.
Earle also performed the spoken-word lines of "Warrior" in a gritty tone on matters like the lack of media coverage of those who have died in Iraq. His verbal syncopation makes one think he's an avid listener of Tom Waits' "Nighthawks at the Dinner." Sitting underneath the loaded poetic lines came an opening and continuous guitar line reminiscent of The Doors' "The End," a drum pattern on the snare that one can't help but think of something from a military song and an instrumental hook line.
Rigby appears to appreciate both the delicacy of a shaker and the boldness of his base and floor tom drums, the latter sounds especially on tunes that have a heavier rock groove like "Ashes to Ashes" that seem to cushion Earle's singing. The song comes from Earle's 2002 release "Jerusalem," which critics also consider a political album.
Rigby also possesses a delicate touch on the brushes that he used on his kit with melodic care and precision for the acoustic "The Gringo's Tale" as Earle's guitar picking slipped beautifully in between.
The crowd - a notably eclectic one ranging from cowboys, to soldiers to indie rock folks - attempted to softly sing the chorus to the ode to Woody Guthrie called "Christmas in Washington" off Earle's 1997 "El Corazon."
Earle invited opening act Alison Moorer whose voice blows most recent Grammy winners out of the water. Moorer, originally from Alabama, is a country singer who has incredible range, pitch and a strong pulse on the emotion behind every word she belts out.
He returned to the stage for four encores and singing two Rolling Stones covers including "Time," the Beatles' "Revolution" and "New Companion" by Townes Van Zandt.
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