New West Records artist: Terraplane - Steve Earle & The Dukes - New Release Review

I just received the newest release, Terraplane, from Steve Earle and its a cool mixture of blues, country and all Earle! Opening with easy shuffle track, Baby Baby Baby, Earle leads off with vocal and harp and Chris Masterson laying in some cool guitar riffs. You're The Best Lover I Ever Had has a real rural country blues feel with acoustic guitar and rudimentary percussion by Will Rigby. A cool pace, catchy melody and Eleanor Whitmore on fiddle makes for a great radio track. The Tennessee Kid opens with a storied talk but quickly emerges as a driving boogie. This is a real cool song with a lot of musical tension. Excellent! Ain't Nobody's Daddy Now is a free wheelin' blues track primarily featuring Earle on guitar and Whitmore on fiddle. Nice track. Better Off Alone is a somber ballad more fully orchestrated with Kelly Looney on bass and low cello like violin sound and Earle's vocals complimented by Masterson with a cool guitar solo. The Usual Time is a casual shuffle with Earle on vocal and harp, Whitmore and Rigby on drums driving the track. Real nice feel. Go Go Boots Are Back has more of a country flavor and only minimal discretionary instrumentation. Just a good solid track. Acquainted With The Wind actually puts me in mind of early British rock blues but stripped down and countrified. Very cool! Baby's Just As Mean As Me is an easy stepper with a feel of the 40's. Whitmore shares vocal lead with Earl and does a really nice job. Her fiddle playing is nicely featured on this track as well. Gamblin' Blues is a cool finger picked blues track with only light percussion and Earle on vocal. Very nice! Wrapping the release is King Of The Blues, a swampy blues track with heavy a single note bass line. Cool understated guitar soloing and a steady drum beat by Rigby makes this a great closure to a really cool release.

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