11. Stacey EarleSimple Gearle
She is Steve Earle’s sister. She originally moved from San Antonio in Texas, where they originally lived, to Nashville to stay with her brother and help look after his kids, I think when he was in rehab. And she started making music there. She is amazing. Her husband is the guitarist in the band, Mark Stuart, and he is just off-the-chart. So they’re a husband and wife team like Gillian Welch and Dave Rawlings, but not as well-known. These are just beautiful songs. They’re in a country style, it’s a country album, but it’s also a singer-songwriter album. They’re really contemplative songs about a day in the life, even about nothing happening. There’s a song called ‘Just Another Day’, about her going about her business. It’s really clever songwriting from a real person. She’s not very famous, obviously not as famous as her brother, and I don’t think she had any label support, but this is a classic record. One of the customers in the restaurant where I worked as a waitress gave this to me. Working in bars, cafes and restaurants is actually quite a good way to chew the cud about stuff you’re interested in, and all the customers knew I was the girl who was in a band and was trying to become a singer when I wasn’t in the bar. And we’d talk about music, and geek out. A lot of music I’ve heard comes from cafes and bars, ’cause I like to mooch about. I really recommend this, even to people who don’t like country.
