Transcendental Blues

Transcendental Blues

After Steve Earle redrew a handful of musical maps with 1997's <i>El Corazon</i>, it was surprising to hear the troubadour team with Del McCoury on the unabashed bluegrass set <i>The Mountain</i>. In truth, <i>El Corazon</i> paved the way for <i>Transcendental Blues</i>. Here Earle returns back to the sprawl of <i>El Corazon</i>. There's Spartan, yearning folk in "Over Yonder," boot-scooting 'grass on "Until the Day I Die," and ear-pinning rock on "Everyone's in Love with You." Earle rescues the connection between Ireland and American traditionalism with the mandolin-driven "Galway Girl" and even seems inspired by fables with "The Boy Who Never Cried." Earle shows again and again that he's a consummate indexer, demonstrating how American music crisscrosses distinct styles. As a singer, Earle is alternately snarly, wispy, guttural, and earnest. In short, he's able to shake the ear with a fresh musical twist and then settle the listener with all the broad-minded smarts he's relied upon since his mid-'90s comeback. <i>--Andrew Bartlett</i>