Steve Earl

Added on by Craig Stewart.

2020 has been an ongoing struggle for all of us. Maybe that's why, this Christmas I’ve been drawn to Steve Earl’s Nothing But A Child, off his Copperhead Road record. On this record, Steve blends his own free-flowing mix of gritty rock and bluegrass.

Steve’s Christmas song wasn’t written for Copperhead Road. It had originally been written for an Oak Ridge Boys record. Matter of fact, Steve credits his whole career to Oak Ridge Boys Publishing, as being the only folks in Nashville to hire him as a songwriter. Since the Oak Ridge Boys already had a wildly successful Christmas record in the 1980s, Steve was sure if he could get one of his songs on their new Christmas record, it would be financially beneficial for him and his family. Unfortunately, Steve's submission wasn’t selected. Fortunately, Steve was putting the finishing touches on Copperhead Road at the time and thought this Christmas song would make a good ending to his own record.

Critics and musicians alike raved about the first five songs on this record, while many considered the last five songs overly sentimental. According to one NY Times reviewer, the ending song on the record was little more than a ‘hokey’ Christmas song. Well, hokey or not, I've enjoyed hearing Steve's Christmas song this year and you may as well.

Merry Christmas, everyone!