LifestuffandSteveEarle

A Long Time...

2010-09-26T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well, it's been a long time since I've posted about Steve, his tour hasn't gotten him back to Minneapolis, but we hope it will soon! He and his wife, Allison Moorer, became the proud parents of little John Henry this Spring. We were all so happy for them both, what wonderful bedtime songs that baby must hear!

We had tickets for Justin Townes Earle's stop in Minneapolis in October. Unfortunately, the rest of his tour has been cancelled while Justin is in rehab. Those of us who love him are praying he finds his way back, staying sober is a long hard road, I know it myself as I have been clean nearly four years. There have been some times, under medical supervision, I've used Vicodin for my chronic pain problems, but things are pretty clean now. Everyday is a struggle while you are trying to stay clean. I know that.

Blessings to all of you as we enter the end of the another year!!

Wow

2010-02-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

I can't beive it's ben been so many months since i last posted on this blog...nothing about Steve has held me back, saw him twice on the Townes tour and was able to see Joe Pug twice since I saw him with Steve summer 2008 in Texas...my dear friend and I are going to see Justin Townes Earle andJog Pug this week in St. Paul, maybe I will have some people to post then, they are both incredible...

And Allison and Steve Waiting for little John Henry to arrive! Such a special time! We all want to wish them the best of luck and God bless your beautiful little son. Get ready for some long nights, but they go by so quickly. Now our three babies are 21k 18 and 14 and three living in the arms of the Grandmother who weren't able to stay long with us.

We love you both, Allison "Crows" is beautiful, and Steve,. well you know you have been my hero since way back in the Texas Days...

Joanna Backman

Meeting Steve in Texas!!!

2009-07-11T10:30:00.000-07:00

Well, here's the picture of the century...for me anyway......getting to meet Steve Earle after his show in New Braunsfels, Texas.....a great night!!

Long no time see....

2009-07-11T10:22:00.000-07:00

Wow, I can't believe how long it's been since I posted to this blog.....well, sorry....long story and I'm sure folks have other things to do.....

We just got back to Minneapolis after spending two weeks in Texas with my sister and her husband and were able to see Steve on his Townes tour. It was, of course, incredible. It was held at an amphitheater in New Braunsfels, Texas, actually not very far from where Steve grew up (Shertz, Texas), hotter than a Laredo whore, dusty and bugs the size of Buicks everywhere....Steve swatted at them and crunched them under his boots and gave his usual $500 worth of music for a $28.00 ticket. We were really close to the stage and I got to meet him afterwards, talked for about 45 seconds and played with Blue, his blue tick healer who travels with him on the bus. It was, for me, another night of magic....I'm going to be able to see him again on July 23rd here in Minneapolis, never can see too much of Steve Earle....so, I'm going to post a few pictures here and wish you all the best and hope you, too, are able to catch Steve on this Townes tour!!!!

Trying that again

2008-12-12T15:35:00.001-08:00

well, i have been off a long time, can't seem to get my pictures to cooperate....my brain has been frozen due to the temps of the last few days, the highest a blistering 14....sigh....

Just some pictures to warm the winter...

2008-12-12T15:35:00.000-08:00

The Dead Season Arrives

2008-12-12T15:27:00.000-08:00

December 12,
2008

Wow,
I guess it's been awhile since I last
wrote...the dead season, as i fondly
call it, has rolled into Minnesota.
now, we won't see or talk to
anyone for the next 5 months...that is kind of an
exaggeration...kind
of. people hole up here like chipmunks in the winter,
you see them
leaving home in the mornings and coming back at night and rarely,
if ever,
does anyone really speak to you. it is one of the most
isolated,
and isolating, places to live, especially for a girl from Texas who
really
loves to talk....the loneliness can sometimes get you down. it's the
worst time of the year for me to stay clean and not drink or use. And,
to
that...I have 15 months clean. the longest I've been sober in
well....nearly 20 years....

and,
the very sad thing is that Steve Earle is
probably not going to come back
this way for some
while. It's hard to live with that
knowledge. YouTube is
great, the Cd's
are great...but, right now I could use some
revved up powerful live
music.

Hope
you come back
someday....soon....Steve....

pictures of Mark and the gang...

2008-09-09T14:52:00.000-07:00

Okay, I am going to try my best to get these pictures to show...this is the second time I've done this, so there are no promises...but, please remember you are working with someone whose brain is not fuctioning on all tracks these days....

Mark Jungers Comes to Minneapolis.....

2008-09-09T14:26:00.000-07:00

Well....first off, let me apologize to Mark and Company for waiting so long to post this bit. I have no really good excuse, probably it has a lot to do with laziness and the dull drag of the summer....but, here goes...
In July, Mark Jungers and his fellers came to Minneapolis and played the 331 Club in that fair city. Mark is a terrific musician who reminded me a little of Steve Earle (who else?) and Jerry Jeff Walker other fellows who occupy big places in my musical heart. Mark's style is Americana, I hope I am getting that correct, and real easy to listen to while drinking a tall cool one. Okay, I don't do that anymore (they frown on that in AA) but it was still a grand evening, sitting in that little club, like lots of the ones I used to frequent a hundred years ago when I was working on little newspapers in Texas, and hearing music that has the sound of the Texas hill country. Growing up in that part of the world was the best thing that could happen to any Texas native, in my little opinion, and the 70s and 80s were the best time to be anywhere near Austin, Texas, or Bridgeport, Texas, or Gainesville, Texas....well, you get that line......
I was able to talk with Mark before their set began. As fate would have it, Mark and his lovely wife live right down the road from my Daddy and his wife, in the sparkling burg of Martindale, Texas. Small world....my Daddy had been telling me about Mark for months, but, it would seem he didn't mention that he had a daughter living in Minnesota. Fate would further have it that Mark is a native of this North Star State (Minnesota)....that, to me, is incredible. We changed places, I reckon, on the map (but I wish I still lived in Texas, Martindale or Tow or Muleshoe or Mission...sigh.
Mark was wonderful and it was all I could do to pull myself away from the club and drive back home. I really hope they get up here again, I've told some friends about his wonderful sound and they would like to be at his gig, too. Who wouldn't? He is really a grand singer.....
If you ever get a chance.......well, you know....I post pictures of Mark and Company from his web site. I never remember to take a camera with me....

Steve in Duluth

2008-08-02T16:18:00.000-07:00

Well, okay, these pictures are probably not the best ever taken of Steve Earle, but considering we weren't even supposed to be using flash cameras, they came out pretty good. I stopped taking them after this really big Security guy came around, and I am really sorry if I blinded Steve even for a minute, but I had to get the pictures....how could I ever live with myself if I never saw him again??? So, thanks, Steve, for understanding...

Steve and Allison in Duluth, July 19

2008-08-02T16:01:00.000-07:00

Okay, now how far would you drive to see the singer you have loved for over 20 years...I reckon folks have driven long ways for that. July 19 a friend and I drove a 340 mile round trip to see Steve and Allison in Duluth, MN. If possible, that show as better than the one in Minneapolis in March...and that one was incredible..They were at St. Scholastica College's Mitchell Auditorium, the sound was incredible and we were lucky enough to have gotten front row center seats.
I have a feeling a lot of the folks there were season ticket holders to the College's concert/play programs. They were quiet, very polite and there wasn't much hoopin' and hollerin'....but I kept the front row noticed. It's kinda hard to act like that when you are 10 feet from the singer, but I can't help it. Steve's music is magic to me and I really can't stay in my seat.
I am in my tenth month of sobriety now, ten months have passed with one Vicodin or one drop of tequila. So far, I would say there hasn't been one day of pure peace, some days are not as bad as others, some are worse than most. I hear it takes a year and a half to get back to "normal" but I am not even sure what that would be at this point.
So, I follow Steve and his music around as much as I can. He sang a lot of the old favorites, the ones that, I confess, still bring me the most comfort, remind me most of the good times in Texas when I was younger and things really seemed possible.
We didn't get to see him after the show, granted, I did plead with the feller at the tour bus to let us have just one minute....but, no deal...I can't imagine what it's like to have people want you to sign your name to something, that kind of appreciation and love. I feel like a groupie definitely at times like that....
If I were able to speak with him at any real length, I would tell him "thank you for sharing your gifts and helping those of us who struggle with their own demons to make it through another day."
Steve and Allison are coming back to Minneapolis on September 1 for a Labor Day rally..ha, the same day the Republicans get together to discuss whatever Republicans discuss! I'm sure that day was not chose at random!
I will be there.....early....maybe I can say hello and thanks then.
God bless Steve Earle..

Going to Duluth to see Steve!!!!

2008-05-29T09:19:00.000-07:00

Hello friends!!! I just got my tickets today to see Steve and Allison when they make another stop in Minnesota!! They will be in Duluth, about 3 hours from Minneapolis, on July 19....I've been scraping together my Ebay and milk money to get ready for this...I might even get a part-time job, but I don't want to set that in stone yet....

I never thought I would be able to see them again on this tour! It is going to be fantastic...they are appearing at Mitchell Auditorium on the St. Scholastica University grounds...checking on the website, Mitchell looks to be a great venue, small enough to feel a real part of the music, which, I think, is a must with a Steve Earle concert. There are about 500 seats, "in the round," so I am guessing it will be great from whatever location.

I hope, if you are wanting to see Steve again and you live in Minnesota, you can join us in Duluth on July 19! It will, of course, be a wonderful show!!

Keep rockin' Steve!!

Steve and Allison coming back to Minnesota

2008-05-10T14:40:00.000-07:00

Yeah, it's almost too good to really be true!!!! After seeing Steve and Allison here in Minneapolis in March, I thought, "well, guess i won't get to see them again for a long time....." But, God smiled down on us here in Minnesota. Steve has added new dates to his tour and they are going to be back in the North Star state on July 19...in Duluth, MN, about three hours from the Twin Cities....I am just waiting for the presale to start!!! I told my dear husband I would sell everything I own on my Ebay auctions to get the money together...I figure $200.00 will hopefully cover gas, tickets and a night at the local roach motel...or, I will sleep in the van if I have to do that!!

I am just so happy they are coming back!!!

Chris Knight, my second favorite singer.....

2008-04-14T10:37:00.000-07:00

Through some dear friends, I recently discovered Chris Knight...he sounds enough like the singers I grew up hearing in Texas to love, but also has his own great sound...you might want to look him up, lots of things on YouTube...I'm checking his tour dates all the time, hoping he makes it up to the increasingly thawing tundra...

Keep rockin' Chris!!
***********************************************

The sun came out in Minnesota!

2008-04-13T07:07:00.000-07:00

Well, my part of Minnesota...I think it's the first time in at least two weeks since the day has started off well....the weather, while still cool, promises to be good...Hannah and I, and maybe Kyle (if we can convince him) are going to the Minnesota Zoo to see the Farm Babies exhibit...ducks and piggies and lambs and calves...just like back home.....

Hope your day is a good one.....

Flowers....and a picture of Steve....just because..

Back from Texas

2008-04-09T12:06:00.001-07:00

We are back from Texas, here in Minnesota again and again waiting for the sun to shine....it was soul renewing to be back home again, even though the bluebonnets weren't as lovely as they were last year. I figured they would all be up the week after we left. They are temperamental flowers, too much rain and they don't stick their heads out of the ground, too little and it's pretty much the same thing. But, there were some and we did eat a lot of Mexican food and some of the best bar-b-que in the state in Lockhart, Texas, at Kreze's...I am including a picture here of the county courthouse in Lockhart, it's one of the most beautiful in the state. No photos of me, but one dear one of my 12-year old treasure Hannah Joy. She cried half way back to Minnesota, and I did, too, on and off. It had to be one of the most horrible plane trips ever, with turbulence and the parking on the tarmac for half an hour while they looked for some kind of part needed to take off...no air in the cabin and a serious panic attack brewing in me..but, then we left..once again, Steve Earle on my MP3 player saved the day...

Thank you, New West friends.....

2008-03-24T16:11:00.000-07:00

I want to thank my dear friends on the Steve Earle discussion forum, New West Records, for their continuing support this last year....and especially these last months of my recovery. I never could have made it this far without you all.....

And, thanks to Steve Earle...his kindness meant so much to me.....

A summer in Mexico......

2008-03-22T07:35:00.000-07:00

Last summer, and it seems like a thousand years back to me, we were in Nuevo Vallarta, a beautiful place in a beautiful country....this picture at least makes one feel warm, even while sitting and looking out at the snow....

Easter Snow

2008-03-22T05:18:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning to snow....Easter snow....only in Minnesota.....it will be 40 Monday though, so hopefully it will all be gone. We are all so ready for this winter to be over, it's been a hard one in many respects. Looking forward to a better spring.

Hope your day is a sunny one....

In Memory of Joyce Ballard Bostwick

2008-03-21T15:40:00.000-07:00

"All that I am, or hope to be, I owe to my angel mother"
Abraham Lincoln

Today, 14 years ago, my mother died. Her name was Joyce Ballard Bostwick, she was 59, a native Texan who was born in the western part of that state, a mother of two daughters, wife of the same husband for nearly forty years, devoted Christian friend to many. She had a terrific wit and even though she often struggled with depression, she never failed to think of those around her.

She wasn't perfect, and she would admit that. As a mother, she was often hard to please, but part of that was because her own mother had been impossible to please. She was one of the smartest women I've ever known, was a registered nurse with her Master's Degree. She loved her family and her dogs, and there were many over the years, Willie Nelson and antique shops. She instilled, finally, in me the understanding that remaining true to your "raisin'" was one of the most important things in life. She always said to me, "Sissy, when you sell your first novel, we will do that..." No matter what that was....she believed in me as a writer and, after our two boys were born, she told me, "You are a good mama" and that meant more to me than anything else.

I was 37 when she died. I was devastated and spent the first 6 months feeling as if I loved under water. I moved through life like a robot, our boys were just 2 and 5, so maybe they didn't notice too much. Part of me, that part of the mind that protects the rest of us, could say, "the next time we are in Texas, Mama will be home...."

She died two years before the birth of her only granddaughter, the baby girl she had longed for...none of her grandchildren had red hair, like her own Daddy did, although she would look at their little cue-ball heads and say, "come on, I know you have it in you."

She supported me when my first husband turned out to be just the kind of man she said he was....and she said, "I told you so," but I guess she had earned that. She gave people second chances, after that it was not so easy....

She didn't live to know many of the things I am not so happy to admit, she didn't know I would become addicted to narcotics and alcohol, something I believe I started abusing after her death, to put a haze on life's reality. She didn't have to endure many surgeries I went through, or a very difficult last pregnancy, or the loss of three other babies we were expecting.

From her, I hope I found some of the strength I have now, strength to struggle everyday to stay sober, today is nearly 6 months clean, strength to imagine the rest of my life without her, strength to go on even when life seems too hard to navigate.

And, from her, I also got much of her enthusiam about life, her crazy sense of humor, her delight at the first bluebonnets in Texas each Spring, her joy in the lives of our children, her grandchildren.

My Mama died 14 years ago today, March 21, 1994.

In many ways, in the best ways, she is still right here.

I will see you again one day, Mama.

Again, looking for the sun......

2008-03-17T10:38:00.000-07:00

Texas, windmill and the rising sun

Here in the frozen tundra, North Star State, Minnesota, the sun makes only rare appearances in the fall and winter....it tends to render one feeling like a stupid lump of dirt, and not the good farm type dirt I grew up on in Texas, but the ragged, sluggy dirt clustered around drains in the street and sidewalks......

I am again counting down days...this time til March 29 when Hannah and I head to Texas, sunshine, Mexican food and warm days....

Hope you all have found sun today....

The day after the day after....

2008-03-11T14:18:00.000-07:00

Wow, still kicking myself that i didn't think fast enough to pull out the dang camera after Steve's show....but, heck....

Here's a couple of my favorite pictures not taken at the Minneapolis show, but heck...they are great...

Incredible Show!!! Incredible Singer!!!

2008-03-10T11:11:00.001-07:00

Wow......I struggle for adjectives today that can add some real weight to the show I went to last night in Minneapolis....

I was the first time I was able to see Steve since first "discovering" him twenty-something years ago....there was always something that was in the way here when he was in town, new baby, sick baby, tired Mama....something.....but, last night had to be one of the ten most memorable nights of my life.....

Steve and Allison appeared at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis, a restored theater from the vaudeville era, incredibly beautiful and a very intimate setting, nothing like the giant centers that other folks seem to love. Allison's voice was lovely, she was a perfect, calming effect before the big show began...

Then, it did...all of these weeks of waiting!! I couldn't believe it..Steve sang for 2 1/2 hours, such energy and passion and obvious delight at just singing. As someone who cannot carry a tune in a 50 pound drum, I've always marveled at people who can, and who are able to share that gift with the rest of us.

His set list: Steve's Last Ramble, Devil's Right Hand, My Old Friend the Blues, Now She's Gone, Tom Ames Prayer, South Nashville Blues, Billy Austin, Tennessee Blues, Jericho Road, Oxycontin Blues, CCKMP, Transcendental Blues, Sparkle and Shine (with Allison and such a dear duo! You can feel the love glimmering over the whole audience!), Days Are Never Long Enough,
Down Here Below, City of Immigrants, Way Down in the Hole, Galway Girl (great!!!), Steve's Hammer, Satellite Radio, Little Rock and Roller and a mighty finish, Copperhead Road....

He didn't do some of my favorites, but there are so many songs...I would be hard pressed to come up with a better set...

My dear husband went with me, he's not a huge fan, but he was well behaved and I didn't have to send him out to the car...

After the show, I went around the corner of the building to the loading area. Their big, black bus was purring at the curb, the security guy said Allison was already on the bus...there were just four of us waiting. I managed to convince my husband to stay until, hopefully, Steve came out.

Then, there he was, a more exhausted fellow I've never seen who was still upright. Of course, like a goofball, I screamed....he signed a picture for me and I hugged him and blathered on about the show. I am not sure how much of it he even heard.....and, of course, my camera was in my purse and it stayed there until we had driven off toward home....but, I didn't feel like I could ask for much more, he just seemed to want to get to the bus and sleep. They were on their way to the next stop on the tour, Winnipeg, about 9 hours from Minneapolis...for a show today!

If you ever get a chance to see him, you have to go. It was such a great experience for me. I am a recovering addict, as is Steve, and I told him that his music, blasting in my ears via my MP3 player, was what had gotten me through my first three weeks of detox...now, I have 156 days and still his music affects me in ways that are hard to describe...it has sustained me through many good, and bad, times in my life.

God bless Steve Earle and thank you for sharing the music with us!

Today is the Day!!!! Hang on Minneapolis!!

2008-03-09T11:26:00.001-07:00

Today's the day.....after a forever of waiting...Steve and Allison, tonight, 8:00 at the Pantages Theater in downtown Minneapolis, MN, USA....

I can't believe it's here at last...

Hope to post a long report on what will be the show of the decade!

God bless Steve Earle!!!

One More Day!!!!

2008-03-08T06:19:00.000-08:00

Wow, after all of these weeks waiting, I can't believe Steve is going to be here in Minneapolis tomorrow!! March 9....I know the show is going to be incredible...I will post a little review afterwards, I will have to find a whole new group of adjectives......

If you are going to be able to see him, just hang in there!!

Good things come to those who wait!!!

Keep rockin' Steve!!!!!

Going home....

2008-02-29T15:00:00.000-08:00

My daughter, Hannah Joy, and I are going back home to Texas at the end of March. It's when the hill country is the most beautiful, the bluebonnets are up, everyone has a sense of starting over. My family home has been put up for sale, it's been 14 years since my Mama died and the time has just come to let it go. The developers and "progess" have been cheweing up the incredible land where I spent so many years of my life...16 acres of land and Mama's dream home may be gone down the dirty road of growth...

I know it has to happen...people have to have a place to live... hey, West Texas is a wonderful place to raise a family....

God bless Texas.....

Smile.....

2008-02-29T14:57:00.001-08:00

Here are a few more pictures....to help us all remember the music....

A dream dashed........

2008-02-29T14:44:00.000-08:00

Aw heck....after some emails, and fervent prayers, my hopes for a bit of an interview with Steve were ended today....I received a kind note from his publicity manager, there is going to be no time during his March 9th visit to the tundra for me to speak with him.....

I tried not to get up my hopes....but, I did.....as a sometimes journalist, freelance writer and, now, incredible blogger, I thought how cool it would be to have words from The Man on my little site...

Maybe another time.....

Meanwhile, I am still counting down the days til March 9 and the show of the decade...the Pantages Theater, Minneapolis, Minnesota, I will be there, hopefully I can at least get an autograph....

And, I still love him and his music....heck, we are both young pups...maybe there will be another show and another day for an interview...

Keep rockin' it Steve....

My favorite song by Steve....

2008-02-27T19:42:00.000-08:00

Check out this link from my YouTube page...it's my favorite song of Steve's...and that's not an easy choice to make with so much incredible music.....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vq4MgDwmIs

And, 11 more days until he is in Minneapolis!!!!!

Remembering Waylon....

2008-02-22T21:46:00.000-08:00

Six years ago this Feb. 13, Waylon Jennings died. He was born in Littlefield, Texas, another great singer with a beautiful voice and wonderful stories to share.

I first saw Waylon at the Fredericksburg (TX) Folk Life Festival way back in the 1970s....we were both a lot younger then....and he was incredible.

Today, we are remembering Waylon and his wonderful contributions to alternative country music.

Rest in Peace, Cowboy.

Warming up on the tundra.....

2008-02-22T20:40:00.000-08:00

It's getting warmer here in Minnesota...well, warmer is a relative term in the Midwest in February. So, when Steve and Allison arrive here on March 9, maybe they won't have to bring their heavy duty coats and boots......

Winter always seems to be never ending here. For one used to mostly sweltering days in Texas, the winters have always been a challenge for me. The last few years, the cold months have really not been so cold, one year there wasn't even snow until after the first of the year. This year, we have had way below zero.....way below....the cold I can almost live with, the gray skies are another matter....day after day after day....

Still, there is much to be grateful for, health and a place to live, family to love, a new joy to find everyday and.....

Steve Earle is coming to town!!!

14 below zero......really.....

2008-02-10T17:42:00.000-08:00

I never thought, in my entire life, I would ever live in a part of the country where the "high", on any day of the winter, would be below zero....today, started off at -14...now, at about 8 p.m.....it's "warmed" up to -7, but is dropping rapidly...

I was born and raised in Texas, grew up in Central Texas....granted the heat of the summer is almost unbearable.....but, here, a lot of days in the winter, you can't open your front door to get your mail without incurring severe frost bite...

The days look deceptively lovely from the other side of the window...I stand in my living room and look out at the sparkling snow and I almost want to go outside. Almost. Mostly, in the winters, I just stay inside. I take our children to school, then come home and stay in the house. I've been blessed not to have to have a "big girl job," all of these years and, on days like this, I am especially glad to be home.

Okay.....enough now....I just want to go to bed.....

Hannah and her Daddy at her basketball game...

2008-02-08T15:37:00.000-08:00

She don't get her athletic prowess from her mama........

my favorite critters...

2008-02-08T15:35:00.001-08:00

What would my blog be without pictures of my favorite critters??????

Sweethearts.......

2008-02-07T10:40:00.000-08:00

Steve and Allison...here we are in Minnesota waiting for you two to bring the sunshine....

March 9, 2008, Pantages Theater in Minneapolis....

Take care of each other and we'll leave the light on for you....

Bluebonnets and Texas sunset....

2008-02-06T17:13:00.000-08:00

When I get homesick....I think of Texas in the spring and the bluebonnets and incredible sunsets....

My family home sets about an acre off the road, that bit of land is covered in bluebonnets, and, when I was growing up, folks would stop and ask if they could take pictures of their children and dogs in the flowers...

Black labs in red bandanas, little tufts of children carefully sitting in the blue soft cover....

The memories sustain me when it's cold and gray in Minnesota....

These photos are courtesy of Jeff R. Clow, copyright by Jeff R. Clow...Check out his other work on the internet, he takes unbelieveable photographs...and he lives in Texas!!

another great look....

2008-02-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

Steve rocks all the time, but back in the day.....

You guessed it.....more Steve Earle....

2008-02-01T15:24:00.000-08:00

37 more days and Steve Earle will be hitting the North Star State and the Pantages Theater!!!! Counting down the minutes now!!

Here is another, new addition, from YouTube and the incredible Steve Earle....
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tJabvwizkI
With thanks to Kendall on Steve's official website....

hey, another great one from steve earle!

2008-01-24T18:04:00.000-08:00

this is another one of my favorite videos from the man....great stuff......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0T9qBdbV7v0

Texas My Texas

2008-01-24T15:33:00.000-08:00

Missing Texas

2008-01-24T15:07:00.000-08:00

I admit one of my problems living in Minnesota has been that I've never really "let go" of Texas...and we have been here 20 years. For the first few years we were here, I could still think of living in Minnesota as a sort of temporary thing, that we would eventually go back to the Lone Star state.

The longing for Texas was especially strong while Mama was still alive....March 21, 2008, will be 14 years though since she died.

I reckon I will have to quit pining for Texas at some point. It's just that I have never developed the emotional attachment to Minnesota that I still have for Texas.

Well, today the "high" was 12, and that's warm compared to what the last 10 days have been. 12...I never thought I would live anywhere but Texas, and sure never anywhere that's called the "icebox of the country."

I've lived though now though temperatures way below zero. -20, and that was not taking the wind chill into account.

When our daughter was born in January of 1996, the high that week was -10....the high.

When our second son was born in October of 1988, it snowed 33 inches on Halloween. In one day. 33 inches.

I think it snowed twice the whole time I was living in Texas, and the inch or so of the stuff on the ground put the entire area into red alert.

So, I am trying....still....wonderful things have happened to me in Minnesota, most especially the births of our three children...and, I have made a few good friends. But, with the exception of those blessed events, I think I could move tomorrow and not miss Minnesota one bit.

Really.....

more steve

2008-01-23T16:27:00.000-08:00

i sure hope i get this video posted right...still learning the ropes....

one of Steve's best....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2vq4MgDwmIs

Incredible Steve Earle!!! He just gets better all the time......

Steve Earle is coming to Minneapolis!!!!

2008-01-23T14:37:00.000-08:00

For the first time, since we moved here twenty years ago, I am counting down the days until winter is done....well, nearly done....Steve is coming to Minneapolis on March 9, three days after I turn 51, and I have the tickets in my freezing little hand....

He's been here, of course, in the last twenty years, but illness, babies or various other aspects of life kept me from seeing him...meanwhile, he made many CDs (or albums as we called them in my youth) and my children are nearly all grown up now. He's older, but still has the same powerful, wonderful voice that I have loved all of these years. In this house, I am a devoted roots rocker, trying to keep alive the music I cut my teeth on in Texas, even though some of the singers have gone onto their rewards. Waylon is gone, but Steve Earle is still with us, living in New York City and keeping a lot of us here in Flyover Land trudging through the snow and cold until March 9...

Keep rockin' Steve!!

Happy Birthday, Steve

2008-01-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

Happy Birthday, Steve...

January 17, 2008

You have two years on me...

All of us who have loved your music, and you, for so long hope you have a wonderful day, with many happy returns...

2008-01-17T07:36:00.001-08:00

Gray skies, nothing but gray skies....

2008-01-16T13:45:00.000-08:00

Hello Again.....

Life in Minnesota, in the winter, is a challenge at best...the cold has ceased to really bother me, even when the "high" here the end of the week is going to be -5.....

The gray skies, on the other hand, really beat me down...

It's all I can do to stay awake, here it is nearly 4:00 p.m. and I'm struggling to keep my eyes open...I am coming off the end of being sick anyway and still don't feel 100% normal...or as normal as I've been in the last few years....

I've been listening to Steve E. more than ever lately....his music always encourages me...it reminds me a lot of home, of Texas, and even if nieither one of us has lived there in a lot of years, it will always be first in my heart....

“Townes van Zandt is the best songwriter in the whole world and I'll stand on Bob Dylan's coffee table in my cowboy boots and say that.”

Steve Earle

Hello friends, old and new

2008-01-15T14:09:00.000-08:00

Hello friends and welcome to my blog....

This is all new to me and I hope you will feel free to post, comment or, if prefered, just ignore me. Share your thoughts here, if you would like....

I am a 50-year old mother of three wonderful children, Joseph, 19, Kyle, 16 and Hannah Joy, 11 going on 27. We have lived in Minnesota for 20 years, but I was born and raised in Texas, 20 miles south of Austin. Growing up in the Texas hill country, one of the most beautiful places in the world, was the greatest way to live. We had, back then anyway, lots of space and rolling hills and big, fat bluebonnets in the Spring. Austin was, and might still be, the music capital of the Southwest...and maybe world....and there was no better time for country and alternative country music than in the 1970s and 1980s. Life for my only sister and I and my folks was great...

My sister and her husband still live in Texas and my daddy and his wife. My Mama died of a sudden illness nearly 14 years ago now, a fact I have learned, more or less, to live with.

I am a graduate of the University of North Texas with a BA in Journalism, a Catholic Christian, kind of a "half and half" Democrat (no, I wouldn't vote for Hillary if you put a gun in my mouth....) I am a recovering addict to opiates and alcohol, have been sober now for 115 days...still shaky, but doing okay...

Music has always been a sustaining part of my life, hence a little of the reason for this blog. In my recovery (my 3rd and last, thank you) I have been especially bolstered up by the music of Steve Earle, the amazing singer/songwriter who grew up about 20 miles north of me in Texas. Steve and I are both "old Texans" I guess, he is just turning 53, I will be 51 in March. My MP3 player, loaded with nearly all of his music, has gotten me through the first part of this recovery...for that, even if he never knows, I am enternally grateful.

He and his beautiful wife are stopping in Minneapolis on their current tour. March 9, three days after my birthday. As a freeelance journalist, I am hoping to obtain a small, but incredible, interview with him and will post it on this blog. I am not sure this is going to work out, but I am going to do my best.

At any rate, this blog celebrates many things, my life, my family, my faith and, of course, Steve Earle and his incredible contribution to life in so many different ways.

Keep coming back!!

Joanna