Steve Earle

American Songwriter magazine just did an excellent article on Steve Earle. A few points that struck me were:

The effort he put into songwriting,
"...spending 10 years in Nashville before anyone would put a record out..."
"the writers were given the keys so they could access the publishing buildings long after the other staff have gone home."
"Songwriters ... have to live in the margin"

He talks about technology and his first forays into ProTools. While its clear that he takes advantage of technology, he pointed out that "technology was getting in the way of the lyrics. They just weren't as important 'cause there were ways to compensate."

"I own couple of hundred guitars and a lot of gear, but I could get into my truck with one guitar and support myself."

There are references to his living in a neighborhood of artists. He describes Freehold, NJ as "Texas" because of all the southern people coming up there to work with Springsteen. (growing up a few miles away, this is news to me).

The article ends with him hearing one of his songs being played at a Yankee game 15 years later. "To me, that's making an impact... I think that's what you wanna go for."