The Institute for Bob Dylan Studies is delighted to announce that Steve Earle will be in conversation with Jeff Slate at Dylan & the Beats.
His forthcoming album, JERRY JEFF, a tribute dedicated to Jerry Jeff Walker, will be released this Friday, May 27. JERRY JEFF is Earle’s 22nd album. He’s released nearly an album a year since the mid 1990s—LPs ranging from bluegrass, blues, country, and folk. One of America’s most gifted living songwriters, he is singing better than he ever has and working harder. At the moment, he’s writing two books, as well as his second play. He hosts his long running The Steve Earle Show: Hardcore Troubadour Radio on Sirius XM. Throughout the pandemic, he hosted Steve Earle’s Guitar Town, a YouTube series about his massive instrument collection. “I’m just trying to stay out of trouble,” says Earle with a laugh. “If I stay busy, then I’m OK.”
As a teen, he discovered Bob Dylan, Crosby, Stills, Nash & Young, Paul Simon and the Johnny Cash Show. “I always say my job was invented by Bob Dylan,” says Earle. “I’m a firm believer that rock & roll only becomes an art-form because of the lyrics. If it hadn’t been for Bob Dylan wanting to be John Lennon and John Lennon wanting to be Bob Dylan, it wouldn’t have been cranked up to the level of literature that makes it OK for rock & roll to be taken seriously.”
Like Dylan, Earle has inspired numerous cover versions of his songs, including ones by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Levon Helm, The Highwaymen, Bob Seger, and Emmylou Harris.
Registration is now open for Dylan & the Beats. For more information, including keynote speaker announcements, like us on Facebook.