In the Dutchess County Spotlight

The Bardavon presents An Evening with Steve Earle playing solo and acoustic guitar on Sunday, September 30 at 7pm at the Bardavon Opera House. Charlie Mars is on hand to open the Poughkeepsie show.

A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, Earle quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson, Emmylou Harris, Waylon Jennings, Travis Tritt, The Pretenders, Joan Baez and countless others.

In 1986, his debut record, Guitar Town, was released which shot to number one on the country charts and immediately established the term "New Country."

This was just a start for Earle, as an exciting and varied array of releases came afterwards, including the hard rock of Copperhead Road (1988), the minimalist beauty of Train A Comin' (1995), the politically charged masterpiece, Jerusalem (2002) and the Grammy Award-winning albums The Revolution Starts...Now (2004), Washington Square Serenade (2007), and Townes (2009).

Steve Earle's14th studio album, I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive (2011) shares the same name as his 2011 debut novel. Patti Smith stated, "Steve Earle brings to his prose the same authenticity, poetic spirit and cinematic energy he projects in his music. I'll Never Get Out Of This World Alive is like a dream you can't shake, offering beauty and remorse, redemption in spades."

Earle presented excerpts of his poetry and fiction writing at the 2000 New Yorker Festival. His collection of short stories called Doghouse Roses was published in June 2011 and his novel, I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive was published in the spring of 2011. Earle wrote and produced an off Broadway play about the death of Karla Faye Tucker, the first woman executed since the death penalty was reinstated in Texas.

As an actor, Earle has had a mix of appearances in television and movies ranging from cameos to full roles. His music is often used in the sound tracks for these works. Earle portrayed Walon, a recovering drug addict in the HBO TV series The Wire. Earle's song "I Feel Alright" was played at the closing of season two. Earle's version of the Tom Waits song, "Way Down in the Hole" was heard during the 5th season's opener. Earle played a drug dealer in Tim Blake Nelson's 2009 movie Leaves of Grass, and a musician in the HBO series Treme. Earle's song "This City" is heard over the closing credits of the first season finale. He was one of the musicians who sang a mock charity appeal in the Season 3 final episode of 30 Rock.

The Bardavon is wheelchair accessible and offers an infra-red listening device for the hearing impaired. For information, go to www.bardavon.org Tickets are available at the Bardavon Box Office, at 35 Market Street in Poughkeepsie and through TicketMaster at 800-745-3000 or www.ticketmaster.com