I was at HSB 8 all 3 days, catching part or all of the sets by about 20 of the 70-some performers, and I wrote an overview of it for the Iris DeMent yahoo group. Here's what I had to say about Steve:
And then on to Saturday's closer, Steve Earle. The bad news is that Steve didn't
bring along Allison this time; the good news is that he didn't bring the DJ
either. It was
strictly bluegrass with the Bluegrass Dukes all the way. In his Allen Ginsberg
guise and
wearing a hat, Steve seemed in especially high spirits. His potty mouth was
somewhat
restrained and his political comments were all but absent. Maybe his best line,
in
introducing "Dixieland," was "It never ceases to amaze me all the pinko shit I
can sneak in
on a Bluegrass record." It was 15 or so of his songs that lend themselves to
Bluegrass
arrangements, including "John Walker's Blues," which, with some lyrics in Arabic
and done
in Bluegrass style, is sure to piss off the plastic patriots. Steve and the band
ended their
set with a rousing version of Woody's "This Land Is Your Land," and the encore
was Steve's
"Copperhead Road."
The highlights of the festival for me (other than Steve, of course) were Ralph Stanley, Jimmie Dale Gilmore guesting with Iris DeMent, and, especially, not one of the scheduled acts but a couple of buskers who call themselves MoZo. Check them out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6LaDUnWwoOo