Steve Earle’s 8th Annual John Henry Benefit for The Keswell School was delayed this past December and finally took place on Monday, May 18th at the luxurious Town Hall in New York City.
This year saw a change to the program as no longer would the Dukes back up his special guests (as Earle said, “I don’t have a fucking band anymore”), instead the players would conduct a modified guitar pull as everyone would sing a song of their choice. Spanning generations and genres, Earle’s guests this year were Terry Allen, Kurt Vile, and David Byrne, with support from Buck Allen (accordion) and Anna Wilson (pedal steel) to round out the sound.
Earle started the night off with “Copperhead Road” and dedicated it to Bo Mitchell who was in attendance and “fighting the good fight in Tennessee”. Allen was up next with the piano-led “Amarillo Highway” as Byrne joined in on backing vocals, something he did throughout the evening. Vile stated “he was onstage with some heavies” so he started off with a John Prine cover, “How Lucky”, which showed off his soft singing and sweet picking on acoustic guitar.
Byrne used this night to showcase two songs from an upcoming Roald Dahl movie that he had recently written. The first was a happy-go-lucky number played on a mini banjo, while the second was a brief lullaby with the refrain of “In dreams you are safe”. He also delighted the sold-out house with two Talking Head classics, “Heaven” which found his voice soaring around the excellent pedal steel work of Wilson, and the upbeat strumming of show highlight “Nothing But Flowers”. While Vile’s vocals on originals like “Bassackwards” and “Pretty Pimpin” were more muted, Byrne’s singing cascaded through the venue, so powerful he barely needed a microphone.
Other bright moments were the crowd singalong Earle led while covering his son (the late Justin Townes Earle) “Harlem River Blues” and the duet between Allen and Vile on Townes Van Zandts’ “Loretta”. Earle also mentioned he doesn’t take requests but when Allen asks, he will deliver, and he did just that with the stark, capital punishment tale of “Billy Austin”, after which Allen mentioned “that song touches everything that counts”.
The night wrapped up with a group rendition of “Teach Your Children” which is the theme song of this special event. After a quick bow, the artists returned to the stage and played what seemed like an impromptu encore. After a few verses of “Who Do You Love?” Vile took the electric guitar reins and morphed things into “Buck Naked” which found Allen and Byrne dueting, before Earle made an impassioned plea regarding gun control, wrapping everything up with “The Devil’s Right Hand”. While things morph and evolve, the Annual John Henry Benefit for The Keswell School remains an excellent night of music for a great cause.
