Turning quarantine time into creative time, Steve Earle has a YouTube series called "Guitar Town," where he plays his favorite axes- some made here in Kalamazoo. 

Even if you can't quite place the name "Steve Earle," you remember the song "Copperhead Road." While he may have disappeared form the charts after 1988, Earle has continued working, releasing 15 albums and winning three Grammy awards. His songs have been recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Willie Nelson, Levon Helm, The Highwaymen, Travis Tritt, Vince Gill, Patty Loveless, Shawn Colvin, Bob Seger, Percy Sledge and Emmylou Harris. His Wikipedia page notes, "he has appeared in film and television, and has written a novel, a play, and a book of short stories." These days, he's hosting a YouTube series called "Guitar Town," named after his most famous album.

In the title screen, you can see a rack with, I don't know, 50-ish(?) guitars on it. Steve says that is about half of his current collection. The obsession started back in the 80s, but he had other addictions and admits, "all those guitars went in my arm." Earle is a Gibson fan and in the latest video, he shows off a 1934 Kalamazoo KHG.

Guitar-heads will love this video, as there's a lot of tech talk, but music fans have something to love too as Earle plays the blues. Sadly, there's a real-life reason as his son Justin Townes Earle, named after Steve's mentor and friend Townes Van Zandt, died on August 20, 2020.

You can check out more music and more of Steve Earle's guitar collection including many made right here in Kalamazoo on his YouTube channel.

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