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| | STEVE EARLE | | | Steve Earle, fresh from his Lifetime Achievement Award, chatted to us about songwriting, Arsenal and what folk music means to him.
 Above: The new slimline Steve Earle.
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How does it feel to be back in the UK?
I spend a good part of my life here - my very first production gigs as a producer were in England. The first one was The Bible, Boo Hewerdine's and Neil MacColl's band, and that was kind of a life changing thing. That was back in the 80s when Arsenal really sucked and I got dragged out to matches all the time. I've been an Arsenal supporter ever since so that was sort of the negative effect.
What does an evening like tonight mean to you?
For one thing, this is the only painless award show I've ever sat through in my life. The music was amazing. There are a lot of friends of mine here that I see at festivals. Sometimes I see them on another stage at the end of festival so we never really get to talk. Most of the people I know in England were here tonight, though, so it was a good night.
Folk Music has never really had the mainstream success it deserves. Why do you think that is and how important is it to what you do?
It's really easy to relegate it to a corner somewhere, but the truth is, there was a time when folk music was big because it needed to be. It became part of the pop mainstream and it will again. It's still a component. I got lucky and I had a number one country album on my first album in the mid 80s but it was all stuff I've been stealing from folk music and bluegrass music all of my life. The only way I know whether I have songs is to go out with one guitar or with a bluegrass band - that's when you know you've really got songs and you can do it without all the racket.
You've got a great job - what's the worst thing about it?
You're not gonna get too many complaints out of me. I'm not one of those people who sit around and whine because they're riding around in a bus that costs more than some people's houses. I just don't have that in me.
In terms of the current state of the world, will you be returning to political subjects on your next record?
Well, I've started writing it already and so far no chick songs. I'll never be a political songwriter, but I think making art, especially in my country in this day and age is a political statement in itself because making art for art's sake isn't particularly easy to do. I think that for the next few years we're living in very dangerous times and my music will get more political. There's always been a political component in what I do - I wrote Christmas in Washington in 1997 and some of my death penalty songs go back as far as the late 80s - but right now I'm finding it hard to write anything else because of what's going on in the world.
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