Personnel: Steve Earle (vocals, guitar); Mike McAdam (guitar); Bucky Baxter (electric guitar); Ron Kling (keyboards, bass instrument); Ken Moore (keyboards); Harry Stinson (drums).

Recording information: 09/12/1986.

At the time of LIVE FROM AUSTIN, TX's release in 2008, Steve Earle had become a cranky elder statesman of insurgent country, and it was easy to forget that he once conned his way to the top of the country charts. This fantastic live set--taped in September 1986 for Austin City Limits after GUITAR TOWN had made him the decade's most unlikely country star--reveals an energetic young hillbilly with a heart of pure rock & roll relishing his new status on Main Street. Earle and his backing band, the Dukes, rip through a set featuring GUITAR TOWN standards such as "Hillbilly Highway" and "Fearless Heart," tracks off the soon-to-be-released EXIT O, and a menacing cover of Bruce Springsteen's "State Trooper." Earle's solo performance of his own "My Old Friend the Blues," however, is the show stealer here, and on its own is worth the sticker price.