Guitar Town voted Ablum No. 489 of the top 500 of all time by Rolling Stone Magazine.

December 11,2003 issue no. 937

Steve nominated for a 2003 Grammy

Robert Cristgau's Consumer Guide Index:  2002

Heartaches By The Number:
Country Music's 500 Greatest Singles

Someday – #24

Greg Kot's Greg Kot's top 20 albums of 2002

#10 –  Jerusalem: "Like all great protest singers, Earle looks for the stories that haven't been told in the mainstream media, and confronts an America looking for scapegoats in the wake of Sept.11. His Jerusalem is the bravest album of a career not lacking in courage."

Nominee for 2002 Barefoot Rock Indie Awards

The Trail Blazer's Best Album Of The Year (2002)
http://www.trailblazeronline.net
Morehead State University

#1 Steve Earle – Jerusalem

"Practically Steve Earle's entire catalogue is worth owning. This one presents his broadest sampling of styles (country, bluegrass, acoustic, rock) so it makes my backpack cut. Appropriately, Steve dedicates the album to late, legendary troubadour Townes Van Zandt ("See you when I get there, maestro."). Every song shines. Christmas in Washington is the quiet opener. N.Y.C., with the Supersuckers, is the rave-up. Taneytown, with Emmylou Harris on backup vocals, is the rocker. Roll down the windows and turn it up."

---

"George Pelecanos is a local Washington, DC mystery/crime novelist and has frequently included Steve Earle references into the scenes or dialogue over the ten books he's written to date."
           — John Moore (April 2002)

Tour Music by George Pelecanos

"Practically Steve Earle's entire catalogue is worth owning. This one presents his broadest sampling of styles (country, bluegrass, acoustic, rock) so it makes my backpack cut. Appropriately, Steve dedicates the album to late, legendary troubadour Townes Van Zandt ("See you when I get there, maestro."). Every song shines. Christmas in Washington is the quiet opener. N.Y.C., with the Supersuckers, is the rave-up. Taneytown, with Emmylou Harris on backup vocals, is the rocker. Roll down the windows and turn it up."

---

"George Pelecanos is a local Washington, DC mystery/crime novelist and has frequently included Steve Earle references into the scenes or dialogue over the ten books he's written to date."
           — John Moore (April 2002)

Steve nominated for a 2001 Grammy

Alta Vista's Top 20 Songs of 2000

The Trail Blazer's Best Album Of The Year (2000)
http://www.trailblazeronline.net
Morehead State University

#1 Steve Earle – Transcendental Blues

CDNow's 10 Essential Rock Albums of 2000

Texas Music Report's Top 10 Albums of 2000

Iowa Press Citizen's Top 20 Albums of 2000

Greg Kot's Wildest And Weirdest Moments
On The 2000 Concert Scene

"Best Best rock ’n’ roll high school:  Steve Earle’s two-month songwriting seminar at the Old Town School of Folk Music, in which he played show and tell with his collection of Woody Guthrie and Bob Dylan CDs, as well as his acoustic guitar.

Music Box's Top 20 Albums for 2000

#2  Steve Earle – Transcendental Blues

City Search's The Best Of Nashville

2000 Best Country Artist ('audience' winner)
#1 – Steve Earle

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's
Top 10 Albums of 2000

#9 – Steve Earle – Transcendental Blues

The Village Voice's 2000 Pazz and Jop Critics Poll

Best Bluegrass Album
#18 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band – The Mountain

Steve nominated for a 2000 Grammy

From the Ft. Worth Star Telegram
"Most Significant and Infulencial Country Artist
Of the 90's Decade"

"In country music, the man who mattered the most was Steve Earle, a troubled Texas Troubador whom we last heard on The Mountain, an inspired summit meeting with bluegrass hero Del McCoury.  Country music gained widespread popularity in the '90s, but in doing so became watered down, as some of its most popular artists — Shania Twain, for example — are hardly country at all.

"For popularity alone, Twain and Garth Brooks are the heavy hitters.  But thank goodness, sales are never all that matter, and the last half of the decade saw the rise of 'alternative country' in the form of Whiskeytown, Wilco, Junior Brown, Wayne 'The Train' Hancock, Robbie Fulks, the Mavericks, the Old 97's and others.  Among them, Steve Earle is the guiding light: after years as a drug addict (including a stint in jail), he turned his life around with a series of no-punches-pulled records and a rep as one of America's finest songwriters.  He's started his own label, E-Squared, produced worthy artists such as the V-Roys and Irishman Bap Kennedy, and toured extensively.

"He will be the keynote speaker at the South by Southwest music conference in March in Austin, and if the past five years of his life are any indication, he hasn't even made the best music of his career.  Now that's cause for celebration.  Viva Steve."

From the 3 January 2000 Chicago Tribune
"Best Prelude To A Divorce"
(by Greg Kot)

"Only weeks before the Steve Earle-Del McCoury Band partnership imploded, reportedly because Earle's cursing didn't agree with the McCoury patriarch's Christian sensibility, these mismatched mountain boys proved yet again March 25 (1999) at the Vic how hard bluegrass can rock."

#1 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain

Mojo Magazine (UK)
Top 25 Albums of 1999

#15 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain

Amazon.com's Editors' Picks
Best 100 of 1999

#2 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain

Ottawa Citizen
Top 10 Country Albums of 1999

#8 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain

Though they've since had a falling out, country rocker Earle and bluegrass veteran McCoury were in sync on this album.  The bittersweet ache of country, the no-limits drive of rock, and the restrained energy of bluegrass underpin stories of the dustbowl, working stiffs, outlaws, heartbreak and salvation, all penned by Earle.

WNCW Listeners' Top 100 of 1999

#1 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain

From the 24 December 1999 Entertainment Weekly's "The Best Country Albums Of 1999" list

#3 – Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band - The Mountain

From
"The Encyclopedia of Albums"

1000 BEST-EVER ALBUMS

Steve Earle — Copperhead Road (1988)

From the November 1999 country.com website

Made In Nashville: 50 Great Albums
That Showcase Music City's Diversity

Steve Earle — Guitar Town (1986)

International Bluegrass Music Association
(1999)

The Mountain
(Steve Earle and the Del McCoury Band)
nominated for "Recorded Event of the Year"

Associated Press's 10 Best Albums of the '90s

El Corazón:  Steve Earle

"The finest country-rock songwriter alive rebounded from heroin addiction and jail with an astonishing burst of creativity. This was his most wide-ranging work."

Spin Magazine's Best 90 CDs of the '90s
(September 1999)

I Feel Alright:  Steve Earle

Mojo Magazine (UK)
August 1999

Best Of 1999 So Far:  Steve Earle's The Mountain

Guitar Town goes Gold in the US
(1999)

Detail Magazine's 49 Best Albums Of All Time

Best Clean-&-Sober Album:  Steve Earle's El Corazón

Expressen (Swedish Newspaper)
Best Record Released In The First Half Of 1999

The Mountain:  Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band

Lluis Sala's "Best New Releases Of 1999"

including a review (in Catalan and English) of The Mountain

1999 Orville H. Gibson Award

Best Acoustic Guitarist (Male):  Steve Earle

From the 17 Feb 1999 Irish Hot Press

Annual Readers' Poll
"International Folk Category"

#5 – Steve Earle

Steve nominated for a 1999 Grammy

From the 28 December 1998 Chicago Tribune

" '98 Memorable Rock Moments, part 2"
(by Linda Ray)

Steve Earle (19 September 1998)
Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago, IL

From the 27 December 1998 Chicago Tribune

" '98 Memorable Rock Moments, part 1"
(by Michael Parrish)

Steve Earle (19 September 1998)
Old Town School Of Folk Music, Chicago, IL

Steve nominated for three 1999 Nammies (Nashville Music Awards)

 "Americana Album" (for El Corazón)
"Artist/Songwriter"
"Producer" (Steve Earle and Ray Kennedy) — Steve and Ray won

From the October 1998 Playboy Magazine

The Playboy Jazz and Rock Poll

Best Male Country Artist  (1998)

From the March 1998 German Rolling Stone Magazine

Readers' Favorites
#9  – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the February 1998 German Rolling Stone Magazine

Music Critics' Favorites
#3 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the February 1998 Stereo Review's Record Of The Year List

top 10 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the 22 January 1998 Rolling Stone Magazine's Critics Poll

Country Artist Of The Year  (1997)

From the 1 January 1998 The War Against Silence's Best of 1997

#8 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the 20 December 1997 The Times' Critics Poll

Top Albums of 1997  (by Patrick Humphries)l

#1 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

WNCW  (Spindale, NC) radio's listener poll for best of 1997

#2 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

WFUV (NY) radio's listener poll for best of 1997

#2 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the Mr. Showbiz website

Top 25 Albums  (1997)

#10 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From Mojo (UK Magazine)

Top 50 Albums  (1997)

#12 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

From Country Music International

#1 Pick Of The Year  (1997)

Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the January 1998 Illinois Entertainer

Top 10 Albums  (by Michael C. Harris)

#6 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

Lluis Sala's "Best Of 1997"

including a review (in Catalan and English) of El Corazón

From the British Times, 20 December, 1997

1997's Best Albums  (by Patrick Humphries)

#1 – Steve Earle - El Corazón

"1997's best album was Steve Earle's El Corazón, a heart-wrenching, foot-stomping selection of songs which places Earle up with Springsteen, Dylan and Johnny Cash."

---

From the British Times, 20 December, 1997

Country Gig Of The Year  (by Patrick Humphries)

#1 – Steve Earle

"Best bit of 1997? Steve Earle's shows at the Shepherd's Bush Empire were the country gigs of the year, with the Duke bashing out the Rolling Stones' Sweet Virginia and the Beatles' Baby's in Black as well as the best tracks from his mighty El Corazón album."

From Country Standard Time, 1997

1997's Best Albums  (by Jeffrey B. Remz)

#3  Steve Earle - El Corazón

From the Houston Chronicle, December 14, 1997

Top 40 Albums  (by Rick Mitchell)

#1  Steve Earle - El Corazón

"Nashville's *Exile on Music Row* has been on a winning streak ever since he came out of jail clean.  A compendium of Americana styles from bluegrass and honky-tonk to acoustic blues and razor-sharp rock 'n' roll, EL CORAZÓN rates at once the best rock and the best country album of the year."

From the Daily Herald (Arlington Heights, IL) Music section
October 3, 1997

Steve named as member of "The Nashville Mafia":

A discography of must-haves:
I Feel Alright
Guitar Town
Train A' Comin'

Steve nominated for three 1997 Nammies (Nashville Music Awards)

 "Rock Album" (for I Feel Alright) — Steve won
"Artist/Songwriter"
"Best Song" (Ellis Unit One)

  ASCAP songwriter of the year (1997?)

 "Sometimes She Forgets" (recorded by Travis Tritt)

From the Tower Records Pulse! February 1997 issue

#1 Country Album for 1996

From the January 1997 Illinois Entertainer

Top 10 Albums  (by Michael C. Harris)

#5  Steve Earle - I Feel Alright

Top 10 Concerts  [Chicago]  (by Michael C. Harris)

#5  Steve Earle - Metro - 25 March 1996

From the Pensacola (Fla.) News Journal:

Album Of The Year of 1996  (by Troy Moon)

From the Orange County (Calif.) Register:

Best Concert of 1996  (by Gene Harbrecht)

#1  Steve Earle - Coachhouse

From WFUV-FM (New York City):

Best Albums of 1996

"also loved" Steve Earle - I Feel Alright    (Rita Houston)
Steve Earle - I Feel Alright    (Lauren Stone)
#7  Steve Earle - I Feel Alright    (Listeners Picks)

From Billboard:

Top 10 Albums of 1996

by Chris Morris
#6  Steve Earle - I Feel Alright Top 10 Albums of 1996

by Chet Flippo
Steve Earle - Train A Comin'(even though it was a 1995 release)

From the 27 December 1996 Entertainment Weekly magazine:

Best Country Albums  (by Alanna Nash)

 (first)Steve Earle - I Feel Alright

"Country's baddest boy rebounds from jail and heroin addiction with a rocking album that owes much to his semi-acoustic Guitar Town sound. Whether he's playing it tender (the almost sentimental Valentine's Day) or tough (Billy an Bonnie), Earle keeps his usual bravado in check, although he still has a flipped finger at the ready."

Arkansas Democrat Gazette:

Top Country Album 0f 1996  (by Phillip Martin)

Steve Earle - I Feel Alright

Lluis Sala's "Best Of 1996"

including a review (in Catalan and English) of I Feel Alright

I Feel Alright #1 on the Moordlijst in the Netherlands  (Moordlijst = murderlist)

    Moordlijst is the alternative chart to the popcharts. It is formed by favourite top ten lists of well-known music journalists and DJs and the list is published in the leading serious music magazine Oor.  The songs on the list are aired on radio once a week.   Steve was #1 for three straight weeks in 1996.

Steve nominated for a 1996 Grammy

(his 5th Grammy nomination)

"Best Contemporary Folk Album" (for Train A Comin')

Steve nominated for two 1996 Nammies (Nashville Music Awards)

"Folk Album" (for Train A Comin') and "Artist/Songwriter"

Lluis Sala's "Best Of 1995"

including a review (in Catalan and English) of Train A Comin' and other mentions of Steve on other artists' projects

Train A Comin' picked as #1 country album in the USA in 1995

In the USA Today list of the BEST in country music, 26 December 1995:

"Volatile Earle resurfaced with a surprising acoustic album that re-proves that he's one of country's great singer/songwriters and reminds us that country is supposed to be the music of honest folk."

Train A Comin' picked as #1 country album in Chicago in 1995

In the Chicago Tribune's annual roundup, country critic Jack Hurst listed his top ten in the 3 December 1995 issue, and had Steve at the very top ... Hurst said "An acoustic collection by one of Nashville's most rock-associated singer-songwriters fittingly leads a selection of albums illustrating the diverse strength of country music... Backed only by the mandolin, guitar and vocals of folksinger Peter Rowan, the guitar of of Norman Blake, the standup bass of Roy Huskey and a vocal by Emmylou Harris, this riveting package is a proud, gravel-throated, devil-may-care paean from one of the most influential of Nashville's younger singer-songwriters--and one of God's more tortured souls."

Steve's 23 August 1995 concert at the Vic
picked as #1 Chicago concert in 1995

In the Chicago Tribune, music critic Greg Kot listed his top ten live performances in the 5 January 1996 issue, and rated Steve's show the best of the best.  Kot explains "The best shows are those in which the music and the emotions it conjures converge into something greater, when the room crackles with the unseen electricity that passes from performer to audience and back again. Sometimes that spark becomes as tangible as the tears Steve Earle had to fight back on this night. In his first concert since purging a drug habit that had been a parasitic sidekick throughout a decade-long career, Earle turned his back to the audience during one particularly tumultuous ovation as if to gather himself. He joked, "I'm not that well yet," but the music argued otherwise, as Earle brusquely strummed and sang his mythic tales of Southern sinners, loners and losers trough a lattice-work of virtuoso string accompaniment."

"Hear My Year" column (by Mark Jacobson)

January 1996 Esquire magazine

"Get quiet with ur-outlaw Steve Earle of insurgent country. His acoustic 'Ben McCulloch' from Train A' Comin' (Winter Harvest), is the Civil War cut of the year."

February 1996 Q (UK) magazine article:

The 50 Best Albums Of The Year

Steve Earle - Train A Comin'

"A 60-day prison spell on a drugs bust afforded Earle time enough to reflect on the increasingly deranged career that took him there. Documenting this musical journey with Emmylou Harris, Peter Rowan and Norman Blake on acoustic instrumentation resulted in the formerly huff'n'puff new country acolyte's best album since his debut, Guitar Town. An accomplished revisiting of his own songwriting past (betraying the tutelage of story-song masters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark) and a document of his chokey-bound composing, with a solo spot for Nashville Skyline picker Blake along the way, Train A Comin' quietly revealed what a resilient and generous performer Earle has become."

Steve nominated for two 1988 Grammies

(his 3rd and 4th Grammy nominations)

"Best Country Male Vocalist" (for Exit 0)
"Best Country Song" (for Nowhere Road)

Steve nominated for two 1987 Grammies

(his 1st and 2nd Grammy nominations)

"Best Country Male Vocalist" (for Guitar Town)
"Best Country Song" (for Guitar Town)

Rolling Stone Magazine's Critics Poll

Country Artist Of The Year  (1986)