I picked up a used copy of this album on vinyl several years ago, sort of on a whim. I was aware of Steve Earle, mostly because I had seen his son Justin Townes Earle in concert a few years before and liked his music. At the time I held an uninformed opinion that the son’s music was vastly superior to the father’s, and I liked Justin’s singer-songwriter vibe more that I liked country music. What I discovered in Guitar Town was a flavor of country music that I hadn’t quite known yet, and I found it delicious. I love this album. It’s great for many reasons, not the least of which is it’s filled with incredibly well written songs. These aren’t songs about drinkin’ beers on the tailgate of a truck, or putting your boot in someone’s ass. These songs contain stories about many aspects of the human experience, and there’s nothing recycled or phony about it. Even a song with the title “Good Ol Boy (Gettin’ Tough)” is void of cliche, and cliche is the single biggest issue with most modern country music. The music itself is an interesting take on country. The lead guitar on the title track is infectious: it’s simple but doesn’t sound very country to me. Much of it sounds like what would later become “alt-country” from artists like Uncle Tupelo and Sturgill Simpson. One of the album’s best songs is My Old Friend The Blues, which wouldn’t sound country at all without Steve’s mild twang. The biggest takeaway from revisiting this album this time was the song Little Rock ‘n Roller. It hit me that this song is about his son, which had not occurred to me before. Justin passed away since the last time I’d listened to Guitar Town, and this song nearly brought me to tears. What a sweet gift to his son this song was. Justin didn’t have very nice things to say about Steve at the concert that I saw him, and I really hope they made peace before Justin died.