Steve Earle & The Del McCoury Band: The Mountain

After making a name for himself with such great albums as Guitar Town and Copperhead Road, country iconoclast Steve Earle was tossed into prison for his problems with heroin. The experience might have cowed many musicians into mediocrity, but Earle took it as an opportunity to rethink his music. When he emerged a clean and sober man, his music was rawer than ever, and his punk attitude more apparent than before. Announcing his return with some of the best music of his career—the acoustic Train A Comin' and the anthemic I Feel Alright—Earle seemed rejuvenated and altogether inspired. That devil-may-care-attitude continued with El Corazon, and the same is true of The Mountain, his new, relatively unpolished album with bluegrass legend Del McCoury. Bluegrass has been appropriated by everyone from Dylan to the Dead to Béla Fleck, but the music itself has generally remained remarkably true to the vision of bluegrass king Bill Monroe. Even so, Earle has little use for trendy interpretations of bluegrass, and his work with The Del McCoury Band is decidedly traditional and revenant. Writing all the songs himself and leading them with his increasingly reedy voice, Earle has brought the already hugely accomplished Del McCoury Band to his wonderfully grungy level on The Mountain. "Texas Eagle" starts things off loose and limber, while the ballad "I'm Still In Love With You" finds Earle singing with Iris DeMent. As per Earle's expressed intentions, such Celtic-tinged songs as "The Mountain," "Dixieland," and "Leroy's Dustbowl Blues" sound like they would fit right onto a Smithsonian collection, though others would make worthy inclusions, as well. If this bluegrass album is just a diversion, however well-intentioned, its casual brilliance shows just how talented Earle is, and how much more superb Americana he'll have to offer in the years to come. Obviously for McCoury and his sons, bluegrass is more than just a diversion; it's a way of life. For 40 years, he's made joyful music that's steeped in tradition and rustic simplicity, and it's hard to imagine the man and his band doing wrong. The bluegrass songs on The Family are mostly covers, but the spirit stems from McCoury, his sons, and the other polished players with whom they perform. It's hard to resist the fiddles, banjos, and mandolins, not to mention McCoury's voice, so why resist at all