STEVE EARLE
Outlaw rock’s conscience in his own words and by his own hand.
I’d describe myself as… an artist. I know I’m that. As someone who tries to be a better person. Is the picture me? It’s me. All I ever paint is skulls and flowers, it’s weird.
Music changed me… by giving me a voice and an identity, something I could excel at. My brother played football and baseball and he was good at it, and I never was good at sports, but once I got hold of my guitar I went from being a basket case to being somebody that could connect.
When I’m not making music… I fish with a fly rod. It’s sort of 18th/19th century technology, updated. Trout are relatively smart for fish, you actually have to stalk them. I’ll go to New Zealand and there’s big trout there. I play in Montana, Wyoming and Idaho… trout don’t live in ugly places. But I don’t kill anything any more.
My biggest vice is… gambling. It’s the only kind of real vice, and I’m kind of an expert in this, that I practise. I’ve got rules – I do it when I play casinos, I don’t do it online. I’ll occasionally indulge in a flutter on a sporting event but never, never horses. And I’m addicted to Harry Potter books. I read them over and over; it’s kind of an escape for me.
“MUSICALS ARE DESIGNED TO MAKE YOU CRY.”
The last time I was embarrassed was… the first night of previews for this play, Samara, I was in. I went blank in the middle of my monologue at the end. But at the end I did it justice. It went from being one of my greatest embarrassments to being a personal triumph.
My formal qualifications are… I don’t think I have any. I have an honorary degree [from the CUNY School Of Law], but a qualification means something that you’ve really earned.
The last time I cried was… last night. I went to see this play, Dear Evan Hansen, at the Music Box Theatre in New York. Musicals, when they’re good, are just designed to make you cry, they’re one of the most emotionally manipulative art forms, and this one’s really really good.
Vinyl, CD or MP3? To listen, vinyl, hands down. CDs, I’ve always hated the jewel cases, but when it gets right down to it songs are just as strong on MP3. And the truth is, in my telephone, I have everything that The Rolling Stones, The Beatles and Bob Dylan have ever recorded, except the bootlegs and I have some of those, not to mention a lot of Chet Baker and Charlie Parker and Count Basie. I’d miss having all that shit in my pocket.
My most treasured possession is… a 1935 Martin D-28. It’s the best acoustic guitar I’ve ever played. In order to be able to afford it I got rid of a lot of guitars, and I won about eight grand in slot machines on a three-day run in Canada, that all went on the guitar too!
The best book I’ve read is… probably Michael Ondaatje’s Coming Through Slaughter, his first novel, about Buddy Bolden. There’s a book by Nick Tosches that might end up replacing the Ondaatje book, though, it’s In The Hand Of Dante. In the story, the mob’s taken to trading in antiquities and they hire Nick to authenticate this Dante manuscript. He’s a badass, he writes a lot of books and I love all of them.
Is the glass half-full or half-empty? Half-full. Even with things as weird as they are. Look, I’m 62 and I have a seven-year-old son, obviously, I’m an optimist. I always have been, even in my darkest moments.
My greatest regret is… I wish I hadn’t waited until I was grown to learn things that would have been easier when I was younger, when my brain was still malleable! That’s the problem with the autodidact thing, you don’t learn things in the right order.
When we die… I have no earthly fucking idea what happens. I believe in God – I don’t know anybody that’s taken real lysergic acid diethylamide25 that didn’t believe in God for at least a minute – but my belief has nothing to do with an afterlife.
I would like to be remembered as… an artist, somebody who did what they did because they felt like they were put here to do it, and that money was never the reason for doing it or not doing it.
Steve Earle & The Dukes’ So You Wanna Be An Outlaw is out now on Warners.