Low Highway

Over the past 27 years Steve Earle's music has journeyed all across the Americana spectrum: country, rock, folk, Beatlesque psychedelia, topical folk songs, etc. He's even done a covers record of Townes Van Zandt songs to pay tribute to his late mentor and friend. His very best offerings are those he's recorded with his Twang Trust production partner, Ray Kennedy. They're together here. Over 12 songs, Earle does what he does best: he tells stories that get under the skin and into the bones. Backed by the Dukes (& Duchesses), his road band, the title track's first-person vignette captures the strangeness and contradiction of America from a small vantage point, a first-person narrative about traveling. His world-weary voice brings the listener into the meld of fiddle, strummed acoustic guitars, and whining pedal steel and keeps her there, seeing it all through his eyes. "Calico County" is a straight-up rocker with whomping electric guitars, Fender Rhodes, bass, and drums. "Burnin' It