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would have called a "hillbilly sound" as distinct from the formulated style coming out of Nashville at the time when most artists used the same roster of backing musicians. This memorable riff provides a great opening salvo for this album, just as it did for the debut album it first appeared on. This is still very much in the Nashville vein but hints at the rebellion that was to follow as Earle pushed the boundaries of his chosen field until he emerged as a fully fledged rocker. Someday follows providing a change of direction, starting with its sparse opening and its harsh story of dead-end poor communities and the dreams of those caught within them.

There ain't a lot that you can do in this town
You drive down to the lake and then you turn back around
You go to school and you learn to read and write
So you can walk into the county bank and sign away your life

This is subject matter out of the Bruce Springsteen book of lyric writing and musically akin to John Cougar Mellencamp but with his Texas drawl spitting out the words with regret and venom he manages to retain his own identity. These two songs also nicely encompass the vision in Earle's head. At one extreme its heading off down the highway with your friends raising hell and not looking back, at the other its being caught in the poverty trap of American government policy, this is the sound track to Earnest Hemmingway and Jack Kerouac.

Also from this album, My Old Friend The Blues remains one of Earle's highest regarded songs. A solo ballad of regret and having one constant and faithfully ally in his life, the blues, it highlights his haunting voice, full of emotion and pain. Short and sweet, poignant and sorrowful it sits at odds with the country rock he was known for at this time. I Aint Ever Satisfied is one of two songs from his second Album, Exit O, a full on acoustic guitar driven laid back rocker with a lot in common with the more pushy moments from Bruce Hornsby and the Range. Its here that we can see the country influences beginning to give way to a more rock stance. Copperhead Road, the title track of his third album follows and here the transformation is complete and all his desires seem to have come to fruition, squealing bagpipes open the track, mandolins set the pace and the song builds as the guitars join in to reach a crescendo when the whole band finally breaks the tension and blasts the song wide open. The themes by now are darker, his fascination with drugs, veteran soldiers, moonshiners and

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