Steve Earle — Live At Montreux 2005

Earle is on his seventh marriage, has spent time in prison and was a major drug addict for a number of years. But even with all that baggage, he's become one of the most incisive songwriters of the past 20 years and has followed a path not too dissimilar from Woody Guthrie — whom he pays homage to on this album's final track, "Christmas In Washington." This live recording features Earle alone with his guitar and harmonica (and mandolin on the bluegrass-based "Dixieland"), which allows his often pointedly political lyrics to take centre stage on songs like "Rich Man's War," "Ellis Unit One" and the twisted ode to U.S. Secretary Of State Condoleezza Rice, "Condi Condi." Earle has never backed down from speaking out against authority, but he knows his way around country boogie, too, as witnessed by "The Devil's Right Hand" and his biggest hit, the bootlegging anthem "Copperhead Road."