Exclusive: Steve Earle Cuts Deep with “The Randall Knife”
Photo by Tom Bejgrowicz Music News Steve Earle
Premiering right here at Paste is Steve Earle & The Dukes’ take on “The Randall Knife,” from their forthcoming Guy Clark tribute album GUY, out March 29 from New West Records.
Earle says in a statement of the song’s inclusion on the album, “It wasn’t a choice. That song had to be there simply because it says more about Guy than anything else he wrote.”
The 16-track homage to one of Earle’s songwriter heroes comes 10 years after the Grammy-winning TOWNES, which was recorded in honor of his other songwriting inspiration, Townes Van Zandt.
Earle said of the inescapable pull to give Clark the same treatment with the recording of GUY:
You know, as you live your life, you pile up these regrets. I’ve done a lot of things that might be regrettable, but most of them I don’t regret because I realize I couldn’t have done anything else at the time. With Guy, however, there was this thing. When he was sick—he was dying really for the last 10 years of his life—he asked me if we could write a song together. We should do it “for the grandkids,” he said. Well, I don’t know … at the time, I still didn’t co-write much, then I got busy. Then Guy died and it was too late. That, I regret.
GUY will also feature appearances from former Clark collaborators Emmylou Harris, Rodney Crowell, Terry Allen, Jerry Jeff Walker, Mickey Raphael, Shawn Camp, Verlon Thompson, Gary Nicholson and photographer Jim McGuire.
Earle will embark on a Record Store Tour next week, during which he’ll play songs from the record and sign autographs. Copies of GUY will be available for sale ahead of its official release at these events, as well.
Listen to “The Randall Knife” below, and also check out Earle’s 2017 visit to the Paste Studio. You’ll find our most recent interview with Earle here, and the details of GUY and Earle’s tour further down below.
GUY Album Art:
GUY Tracklist:
01. Dublin Blues
02. L.A. Freeway
03. Texas 1947
04. Desperados Waiting For A Train
05. Rita Ballou
06. The Ballad Of Laverne And Captain Flint
07. The Randall Knife
08. Anyhow I Love You
09. That Old Time Feeling
10. Heartbroke
11. The Last Gunfighter Ballad
12. Out In The Parking Lot
13. She Ain’t Going Nowhere
14. Sis Draper
15. New Cut Road
16. Old Friends
Steve Earle Tour Dates:
February
26 – Chicago, Ill. @ City Winery
28 – Albany, N.Y. @ The Egg
March
01 – Rockport, Mass. @ Shalin Liu Performance Center
02 – Ithaca, N.Y. @ Hangar Theatre
04 – Los Angeles, Calif. @ Amoeba Hollywood, 6 p.m. *
06 – Portland, Ore. @ Music Millennium, 6 p.m. *
07 – Seattle, Wash. @ Easy Street Records, 7 p.m. *
08 – Denver, Colo. @ Twist & Shout Records, 7 p.m. *
11 – Dallas, Texas @ Good Records, 6 p.m. *
11-17 – Austin, Texas @ SXSW Music Festival
12 – Houston, Texas @ Cactus Music, 5:30 p.m. *
April
27 – New Orleans, La. @ New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival
June
29 – Owensboro, Ky. @ Romp Festival (with the Dukes)
July
18 – Bala, Ont. @ Kee To Bala (with the Dukes)
19 – Kemptville, Ont. @ Kemptville Live Music Festival
September
03-06 – Big Indian, N.Y. @ Full Moon Resort (Steve Earle’s Camp Copperhead)
(* – Record Store Tour stop)