STEVE EARLE
"Townes"
Irish Release on May 15, 2009 on New West Records

www.steveearle.com ~ www.myspace.com/steveearlemusic ~ www.newwestrecords.com

15-SONG SET COMPRISED OF SONGS WRITTEN BY THE LEGENDARY SINGER-SONGWRITER,
::: TOWNES VAN ZANDT :::

Features Guest Appearances by TOM MORELLO (Rage Against The Machine, The Nightwatchmen), ALLISON MOORER, and appearing on a Steve Earle Record for the first time, JUSTIN TOWNES EARLE

Steve Earle is set to release Townes, his highly anticipated follow up to the Grammy Award winning album Washington Square Serenade, on May 12th via New West Records. The 15-song set is comprised of songs written by Earle’s friend and mentor, the late singersongwriter, Townes Van Zandt. Townes will also be available as a deluxe two-CD set, as well as double Limited Edition 180 gram vinyl.

The album was produced by Earle at his home in Greenwich Village, at Sound Emporium and Room and Board in Nashville, TN and The Nest in Hollywood, CA. The track “Lungs,” was produced and mixed by the Dust Brothers’ John King and features Tom Morello of Rage Against the Machine/The Nightwatchman on electric guitar. Earle’s wife, the acclaimed singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, is featured on backing vocals on “Loretta” and “To Live Is To Fly.” Three songs cut in Nashville, “White Freightliner Blues,” “Delta Momma Blues,” and “Don’t Take It Too Bad” feature a bluegrass band consisting of Dennis Crouch, Tim O’Brien, Darrel Scott and Shad Cobb.

Earle met Townes Van Zandt in 1972 at one of Earle’s performances at The Old Quarter in Houston, TX. Van Zandt was in the audience and playfully heckled Earle throughout the performance to play the song “Wabash Cannonball” Earle admitted that he didn’t know how to play the tune and Van Zandt replied incredibly “You call yourself a folksinger and you don’t know ‘Wabash Cannonball?’” Earle then silenced him by playing the Van Zandt song “Mr. Mudd and Mr. Gold,” not an easy feat due to its quickly-paced mouthful of lyrics squeezed into just over two minutes of song. Their bond was immediately formed. On Townes, Earle and his son, singer-songwriter Justin Townes Earle (named after Van Zandt) trade verses on the tune, a song the two of them have been playing together since Justin was a teenager.

The songs selected for Townes were the ones that meant the most to Earle and the ones he personally connected to (not including selections featured on previous Earle albums). Some of the selections chosen were songs that Earle has played his entire career (“Pancho and Lefty,” “Lungs,” “White Freightliner Blues”) and others he had to learn specifically for recording. He learned the song “(Quicksilver
Daydreams of) Maria” directly from Van Zandt, and taught himself “Marie” and “Rake” specifically for the album’s recording. Once a song he played during his live show, Earle relearned “Colorado Girl” in the original Open D tuning that Van Zandt played it in. Earle recorded the New York sessions solo and then added the other instruments later on in order to preserve the spirit of Van Zandt’s original solo
performances to the best of his recollection.

When speaking about Townes, Earle stated, “This may be one of the best records I’ve ever made. That hurts a singer-songwriter’s feelings. Then again, it’s some consolation that I cherry picked through the career of one of the best songwriters that ever lived.”

::: Upcoming Irish Shows:::
Jan 18 - Friday - Jackson's Hotel - Ballybofey
Jan 20, 2008 - Empire, Belfast
Jan 21, 2008 - Empire, Belfast
Jan 22, 2008 - Vicar Street, Dublin
With Special Guest ALLISON MOORER

Two Grammy Nominations For Steve Earle
Steve is up for two nominations at this years 50th Grammy Awards. His duet with wife, Allison Moorer has earned them a nomination in the Best Country Collaboration With Vocals category with the song "Days Aren't Long Enough" while "Washington Square Serenade" is up for the Best Contemporary Folk/Americana Album award. The Grammys take place February 10th.

For Information / Interview requests / Promotional Copies contact Stevo Berube

Berube Communications on info@berubecommunications.com or phone 0872442695

Deluxe CD/DVD Version And Limited Edition 180 Gram Vinyl Record Will Both Be Available

After an extremely rare three year break from recording, Grammy® Award winner Steve Earle is back, with Washington Square Serenade, an album of new music out in Ireland on September 28th, his first for New West Records. The longtime Nashville (via Texas) resident, Earle has called New York City home for the past year and this will be his first release produced in the city. Recorded at New York’s legendary Electric Lady Studios, the introspective album, inspired by NYC is Earle’s first produced by John King of The Dust Brothers (Beck, The Rolling Stones, Beastie Boys). A deluxe CD/DVD version will be available with bonus artwork, plus an exclusive documentary about the inspiration behind “Washington Square Serenade,” including a walking tour of Greenwich Village with Steve and noted journalist Mark Jacobson (New York Magazine). The album will also be available as a Limited Edition 180 gram vinyl record.

“Tennessee Blues,” the first song on Washington Square Serenade, brings Earle full circle as he sings about leaving the “Guitar Town” he first wrote about 20 years ago. The album celebrates New York City’s diversity with “City Of Immigrants,” featuring the band Forro In The Dark, who bring their style of traditional Brazilian Forro music to the song. Earle’s wife, singer-songwriter Allison Moorer, joins him on the tender duet “Days Aren’t Long Enough,” which they co-wrote.

In addition to recording and preparing for live shows, which already include performances at Bumbershoot in Seattle and the Austin City Limits Festival in Austin, Earle will appear in his recurring role as “Waylon” in the final season of HBO’s distinguished series, The Wire. Earle has also recorded a new version of the Tom Waits classic, “Way Down In The Hole” as the series theme song; which will also be included on Washington Square Serenade. Additionally, Earle hosts the The Steve Earle Show: Hard Core Troubadour Radio on Outlaw Country, SIRIUS Satellite Radio Outlaw Country channel 63. The one-hour show features Earle’s personal music selections and special guest interviews. The Steve Earle Show: Hard Core Troubadour Radio airs Saturday evenings at 8pm and is rebroadcast Sundays at 1am and 9am and Monday nights at midnight (all times Eastern.) Never one to approach complacency, Earle is currently writing his first novel for the Houghton Mifflin publishing company.

A protégé of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Earle quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his debut record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and immediately established the term “New Country.” What followed was an extremely exciting and varied array of eleven releases including the biting hard rock of Copperhead Road (1988), the minimalist beauty and perfection of Train A Comin’ (1995) as well as the politically charged masterpieces, Jerusalem (2002) and Grammy® Award winning The Revolution Starts…Now (2004).

TRACK LIST:

1. Tennessee Blues
2. Down Here Below
3. Satellite Radio
4. City Of Immigrants
5. Sparkle And Shine
6. Come Home to Me
7. Jericho Road
8. Oxycontin Blues
9. Red Is The Color
10. Steve’s Hammer (For Pete)
11. Day’s Aren’t Long Enough
12. Way Down In The Hole

“Signing Steve Earle is an honor. Steve is an artist in the truest sense of the word and is one of the finest songwriters America has ever produced. He is a passionate performer, writer and an activist who stands up for what he believes in. Everyone here at New West is thrilled to have the privilege to work with him and we look forward to great success,” says Strang on the signing.

This will mark Earle’s first album of all-new material since 2004’s Grammy winning The Revolution Starts…Now and the longest he’s gone between records in over a decade. Never one to remain idle, Earle’s been busy with various other projects including producing a record for his wife (Allison Moorer), hosting a radio show on Air America, touring, and writing his first novel. In addition, his play, Karla, made it’s New York debut.

Twenty years ago, Earle broke into the music scene with a #1 country record, Guitar Town, and he has sold over 10 million albums worldwide. His broad collection of work includes such critically acclaimed albums as Copperhead Road, Train a Comin’, I Feel Alright, El Corazon, The Mountain and Transcendental Blues. His most recent work Jerusalem and The Revolution Starts…Now represents his outspoken political side.

He is co-managed by Danny Goldberg at Gold Village Entertainment and Burt Stein at Gold Mountain and is booked by Frank Riley at High Road Touring.

"When we were releasing Steve's records on Artemis I always admired the way that New West handled their artists and felt they were kindred spirits. Being able to work with RED again and to engage the extraordinary New West team will make this is exciting new chapter in Steve's career," says Danny Goldberg.

New West Records LLC is a nine year old, wholly independent record label distributed in the United States by RED Distribution. In the past 12 months, the label has had 6 releases debut in the Top 200. With 109 releases to date, the roster includes Dwight Yoakam, Delbert McClinton, John Hiatt, Kris Kristofferson, The Flatlanders, Tim Easton, Vic Chesnutt, Drive-By Truckers, Randall Bramblett, Chuck Prophet, Stephen Bruton, the Old 97’s, Ben Lee, Buddy & Julie Miller and Sarah Lee Guthrie & Johnny Irion. With offices in Los Angeles and Austin TX, the company is staffed by a unique blend of music and business specialists. New West Records also exclusively represents PBS television program Austin City Limits.