Strand Theatre
Saturday, May 31, 2025 | 7:30PM
Steve Earle: 50
Fifty Years of Songs and Stories – Solo & Acoustic
with special guest
Zandi Holup
Please refrain from taking flash photography.
STEVE EARLE is one of the most acclaimed singer-songwriters of his generation. A protege of legendary songwriters Townes Van Zandt and Guy Clark, he quickly became a master storyteller in his own right, with his songs being recorded by Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, Joan Baez, Emmylou Harris, The Pretenders, and countless others. 1986 saw the release of his record, Guitar Town, which shot to number one on the country charts and is now regarded as a classic of the Americana genre. Most recently, Earle’s 1988 hit Copperhead Road was made an official state song of Tennessee in 2023.
Subsequent releases like The Revolution Starts...Now (2004), Washington Square Serenade (2007), and TOWNES (2009) received consecutive GRAMMY® Awards. Jerry Jeff, released in 2022, consisted of Earle’s versions of songs written by Jerry Jeff Walker, one of his mentors.
Earle has published both a novel (I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt 2011) and Dog House Roses, a collection of short stories (Houghton Mifflin 2003).
Earle produced albums for other artists such as Joan Baez (Day After Tomorrow) and Lucinda Williams (Car Wheels on a Gravel Road).
As an actor, Earle has appeared in several films and had recurring roles in the HBO series The Wire and Tremé. In 2009, he appeared in the Off-Broadway play Samara, for which he also wrote a score that The New York Times described as “exquisitely subliminal.” Earle wrote music for and appeared in Coal Country, for which he was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. He is the host of the weekly show Hard Core Troubadour on Sirius Radio’s Outlaw Country channel.
In 2020, Earle was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame. And in 2023, he was honored by the Bruce Springsteen Archives & Center for American Music. His latest album, Alone Again (Live), released on July 12, 2024.
Evocative artist-writer ZANDI HOLUP is a wildflower: unique, free as the wind, and blossoming in Music City. Born in Pennsylvania, she drifted from city to city until she found her home in Nashville six years ago. Cut from the same cloth as legendary folk singer-songwriters like Joan Baez, Bob Dylan and Joni Mitchell, Holup’s raw brand of original folk country flourishes through unfiltered storytelling reminiscent of Dolly Parton and emphasized by her emotive vocals. A grassroots following placed her on the map as snippets of demos and unreleased songs resonated across social media in increasing numbers.
Her first release, Wait for You, sat at No. 1 on the all-genre Spotify Fresh Finds playlist, amassing over a million streams with no promotion outside of her TikTok following. Named a 2023 Artist to Watch by The Nashville Briefing, Holup signed a publishing deal with Arthouse Entertainment and TurnTable Music in partnership with Universal Music Publishing, and a record deal with Big Loud Records last year. Holup’s first release on the label, Gas Station Flowers, is available now. Previously opening for the likes of Jamey Johnson, Amanda Shires, Midland, and 49 Winchester, Holup supports Steve Earle, Ian Munsick and Wyatt Flores late summer into fall.