One thing Virginia-born singer-songwriter Steve Earle has never done is shy away from confronting his demons or voicing his opinions; Earle's music has never lost its bite.

Like Bruce Springsteen, Earle avoids broadsided polemics in favor of personal stories. Thus his virulent opposition to the death penalty comes through in the voice of a corrections officer assigned to "Ellis Unit One," Earle's contribution to the Dead Man Walking soundtrack. His indictment of the "old guys with a lot of money" who start wars they know they'll never have to serve in is expressed by an Irishman fighting for the Union in the Civil War ("Dixieland”) or a poor kid with limited options who joins the Army to wage yet another "Rich Man's War". And he directly confronts his own dark side in songs like "Cocaine Cannot Kill My Pain." Earle is a tough guy: coarse, gruff-voiced, unsentimental, profane.
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