One of the more unfortunate scheduling conflicts in recent memory was my being on vacation this past Saturday when Steve Earle rolled through Houston on his weeklong record store tour, stopping again at Cactus Music to promote the release of his new Townes Van Zant tribute record, Townes.
The Houston Press has a full recap, along with a YouTube of Steve playing his own "Taneytown".
In the meantime, Townes was one of the albums I really played the hell out of during our trip to New Mexico. Yesterday, my official copy arrived, the two-disc "deluxe" version featuring a full CD of acoustic versions of 11 of the 15 album tracks. Just blowing through a few of the bonus tracks, I can tell you it's probably worth the extra six bucks or so. For anyone wishing that Steve's version of "Lungs" had a lot less Tom Morello and turntables, you'll be richly rewarded. But either way, Townes is great release and sure to be one of my favorites of the year.
And I'll be licking my wounds at The Crighton Theatre in Conroe come June 18, when Steve swings back to town - well, darn close to town - and plays an acoustic show at the historic, intimate venue. Season subscriber seats were being held through May 15, and all remaining tickets should be on sale to the public. Call the Crighton Theatre directly to get your tickets (they're really nice, and they'll be able to tell you exactly where your seats will be).
It's some small consolation that Allison Moorer was not with Steve this time around. Here are some of my photos from their 2008 joint instore at Cactus, just for old time's sake.
Just in case you're wondering, here are a few of the other albums, old and new, that were in heavy rotation last week (much to the chagrin of Mrs. K, I like my listening to match my location pretty closely):
- Dave Alvin - Ashgrove (we very nearly hiked down to the banks of the Rio Grande, so this one was a no-brainer)
- John Doe & The Sadies - Country Club (rapidly becoming one of my favorite albums of the year)
- Hayes Carll - Little Rock and Trouble In Mind (I re-read McMurtry's All My Friends Are Gonna Be Strangers while on vacation, and the character of Danny Deck puts me very much in the mood for Hayes Carll)
- Ryan Bingham & Dead Horses - Mescalito (not an album I've listened to very much, but I like it more and more. He has a new album due on June 2)
So there you have it - the Santa Fe Playlist.