Stacey Earle (born September 25, 1960) is an American singer-songwriter.
Early life
Earle was born in Lake Charles, Louisiana, and raised in
San Antonio
San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...
, Texas. She first taught herself to play a
ukulele
The ukulele ( ; ); also called a uke (informally), is a member of the lute (ancient guitar) family of instruments. The ukulele is of Portuguese origin and was popularized in Hawaii. The tone and volume of the instrument vary with size and con ...
and then began playing a gut string guitar, left behind by her musician brother,
Steve Earle
Stephen Fain Earle (; born January 17, 1955) is an American country, rock, and folk singer-songwriter. He began his career as a songwriter in Nashville and released his first EP in 1982.
Earle's breakthrough album was his 1986 debut album '' ...
. She was given her own guitar as a Christmas present when she was 16 years old, but became a mother at 17 and played and sang at home, developing her own style of finger picking.
Career
When she was 29 years old, Earle moved to
Nashville
Nashville, often known as Music City, is the capital and List of municipalities in Tennessee, most populous city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County in Middle Tennessee, locat ...
to live with her brother Steve, and sang backing vocals and played rhythm guitar on his 1991 album '' The Hard Way'', and for the subsequent world tour. She appeared on her brother's subsequent albums: ''Shut Up and Die Like an Aviator'' and '' Transcendental Blues''.
After returning from tour, she wrote songs and performed them at writer's nights in Nashville. Later, she set up her own songwriters' night to get some more time on stage. During this time, she met fellow guitarist and singer Mark Stuart who became her partner in running the events and then later became her second husband.
Earle signed a contract with Nashville's Ten Ten Music Group as a staff songwriter and received notice for her song "For Years", which appeared on
Sammy Kershaw
Samuel Paul Cashat (born February 24, 1958), known professionally as Sammy Kershaw, is an American country music singer. He has released 16 studio albums, with three RIAA platinum certifications and two gold certifications among them. More than 2 ...
's 1996 CD '' Politics, Religion and Her''.
In 1998 she released the album ''Simple Gearle'' which later appeared on ''
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' "Favorite CD's You Nearly Missed" list. Reviewer
Jon Pareles
Jon Pareles (born 1953) is an American journalist who is the chief popular music critic in the arts section of ''The New York Times''.