The reason Steve never had more "commercial" success is that he didn't really play the industry game. He did around the time of Guitar Town, but his addictions took him off the rails. It didn't help that he pissed off and alienated a lot of the wrong people. By the time he cleaned up, the biz changed and he was on a different path. Steve is very outspoken, and that isn't gonna help sell records when you're alienating people at the same time. I have been a longtime fan of Steve Earle's for many years, and (brace yourself), someone with strong conservative beliefs. I always knew he was a radical and was okay with it. But somewhere in the early 2000's he made some overtly political records that were just weak. If you don't believe me, check out the used bins at your record stores. During this time, I moved on (as did others). I'm not gonna lay out my hard earned dough to hear someone spout their politics. My time is simply too precious. I bought the past couple albums because they are good to great. He's a great talent. And I also think that his mouth keeps him from being one of the giants that he deserves to be. Instead of crusading for every known cause, he should clean up his own back yard. Anybody that's been married five or six times simply does NOT have their own shit together by a country mile, and should not be dispensing worldly advice to anybody.

Stormbringer Coming Wow that’s probably the biggest load of horsesh*t I’ve ever heard about any musician, ever. It’s like you ate a big hot and steamy helping of Luke Bryan’s diaper and spewed out some of the dumbest sh*t I’ve ever heard... Brace yourself... YOU sir, are a dum-dum. 💩

Steve is from a different time, and perhaps Townes and his aversion to "success" rubbed off a little on his student. Also, being a recovering addict, I imagine staying humble is a big part of that recovery. Speculation to be sure, but anyone who knows music, knows Steve is like the "rain man" of songwriting.

A