Photo: Arnold/Wireimage
When Steve Earle was just 16 years old he struck up a relationship with songwriter Townes Van Zandt that would change the direction of the budding musician’s life: Van Zandt became a mentor to Earle, and now Earle is repaying the favor by recording a tribute album to his troubled late friend, who died in 1997. Brian Braiker rang up the rabble-rouser in Nashville to chat about the record, Rage Against the Machine’s Tom Morello, and Earle’s favorite new band: the Kings of Leon.