Steve Earle

Steve Earle is a singer-songwriter and actor known for his enduring outlaw spirit and deft musical storytelling, which incorporates country, folk, blues, and rock. ∙ He learned guitar at age 11, then moved to Nashville in 1974, playing bass and writing songs for country icon Guy Clark before eventually moving to Texas. ∙ Guitar Town, his 1986 debut, topped Billboard’s Country Albums chart and was included in Rolling Stone’s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time. ∙ A longtime critic of the death penalty, Earle wrote “Ellis Unit One”—told from a prison guard’s perspective—for the 1995 Oscar-winning film Dead Man Walking. ∙ Earle won Grammy Awards for 2004’s The Revolution Starts Now, 2007’s Washington Square Serenade, and 2009’s Townes, honoring his musical mentor Townes Van Zandt. ∙ He had roles in acclaimed TV series The Wire and Treme—the latter earning him a 2010 Emmy nomination for his song “This City.” ∙ In 2017, he made his off-Broadway debut as the narrator in experimental playwright Richard Maxwell’s Samara, for which he also composed the score.