Who could have imagined that Steve Earle would get the chance to grow old gracefully? Two decades after his first taste of success, the 52-year-old songwriter has shed the tough-guy mask, the heroin and the hard time that went with it. Like Woody Guthrie, he’s moved to New York, where he walks the streets and lets the city wash over him. It’s brought new grit to “Tennessee Blues,” his kiss-off to Nashville, and “Down Here Below,” his pissed-off response to the gap between big-city wealth and poverty. But for all its anger, the most convincing songs on Washington Square Serenade are about love (“Sparkle And Shine”), devotion (“Days Aren’t Long Enough” with wife Allison Moorer), messing up (“Come Home To Me”) and simply wanting to be heard (“Satellite Radio”). Playing guitar, mandolin, banjo and bouzouki, Earle has toned down the agit-folk embarrassments of 2004’s The Revolution Starts … Now, and on “Steve’s Hammer (For Pete),” he can even imagine a time when he “won’t sing no more angry songs” and his struggles will be behind him. Though we all know it’s not true—like Earle, this world has long been hellbent on its own destruction—for that one moment, it’s worth considering the possibility and enjoying some of the peace that comes with middle age. [www.newwestrecords.com]
—Kenny Berkowitz
