Hayes Carll Responds to Steve Earle Diss with New Song at Willie’s 4th of July Picnic
When Steve Earle threw Hayes Carll under the bus in mid June by calling Hayes a “younger, skinnier, less talented singer-songwriter” than himself, it set up a potential showdown at Willie Nelson’s annual 4th of July Picnic where both men were scheduled to play this year. Held just outside of Austin at the Circuit of the Americas, Willie’s 2017 lineup included Jamey Johnson, the Turnpike Troubadours, Kacey Musgraves, Margo Price, as well as Earle and Carll.
The original Steve Earle quote came from The Guardian, and was in the context of Earle’s ex-wife Allison Moorer leaving him for Hayes. It was also in the midst of the roll out of Steve’s latest record So You Wanna Be An Outlaw where Earle went on the warpath against numerous individuals, including Noel Gallagher, Richard Buckner, and others.
This left many wondering how awkward it would be if Hayes and Earle crossed paths backstage. However the two men were set to play on different stages, with Carll playing on the main pavilion stage, and Steve Earle headlining the plaza stage. Carll played first at about 4:30 p.m., and according to numerous accounts, near the end of his set, said he was going to play a song he hadn’t done before live, and it prominently included the lyric, “I think she left you because you wouldn’t shut your mouth.” Hayes didn’t say the title of the song, or if it might show up on a future project.
This put all eyes on the always-outspoken Steve Earle, who played about two hours later. But no gruff was returned from the 62-year-old, at least not Hayes Carll’s way.
Meanwhile Allison Moorer is getting ready to release the long-rumored and long-awaited album with her sister Shelby Lynne called Not Dark Yet, covering songs from The Louvin Brothers, Merle Haggard, Nick Cave, Nirvana, and The Killers among others.
July 5, 2017 @ 6:27 pm
gotta love the feuds in country music today…it makes them write up more gritty truthful songs
July 5, 2017 @ 7:51 pm
https://youtu.be/xaCocJXN194
maybe u need to listen to a real songwriter!!! jk don’t hurt me plz
July 5, 2017 @ 6:49 pm
I don’t know if anybody knows this, but Hayes has a Patreon page, where he releases a new song every month. There is a possibility that this song will show up on there, possibly this month.
July 6, 2017 @ 3:44 pm
link?
July 5, 2017 @ 7:04 pm
My money’s on Hayes, because he’s cute. That’s how I roll 🙂
July 6, 2017 @ 2:53 pm
Wow! What an incredibly stupid and shallow comment. Both great songwriters, but one is a legend and the other is not! Conoseurs of great songs and songwriters recognize and appreciate what the artist has contributed in the lifetime of their career rather than their physical appearance. Drama always brings out all the idiots.
July 6, 2017 @ 3:07 pm
It was a joke. I am far from an idiot. No need to be a jerk.
August 3, 2018 @ 3:16 pm
You don’t sound like an idiot at all. And I certainly know you were joking about preferring songwriters with better looks. But I think Steve Earle fans can’t help but cringe *under the circumstances*. At least in light of Hayes Carll lashing out so cruelly with that line about Earle driving her away because he “wouldn’t shut up.” After all, Carll did get the girl. And he has many years ahead to have a great career. I think he’s the one who should shut up and be gracious. Steve Earle is arguably more talented than most songwriters anyway and probably wanted to say stuff that was a lot meaner, out of hurt, but did not. Since Carll knowe how devastated Steve is, (& again, since he got the girl) let it go. Maybe I just prefer older fatter performers, but I find that line so vile I wouldn’t wanna listen to his music
March 5, 2020 @ 3:55 am
It doesnt get better than Steve Earle…hes a bonafied legend. The only competition he ever had were his mentors, Townes&Guy, They are just waitin round for him to die, so they can all jam again…He still has a lotta hell to raise with old soilders like Rodney, & Emmy Lou, of course Lucinda. But nobody cool enuff2run rough shot on Steve…hes the Emineme of singer song writers, hell, he told Dylan he was #2 & if he didnt like it he could go take a little nap….lol…so…Who the fuck is Hayes Carle? Im gonna call him scarecrow, he definately needs a brain..lol..& he aint that good lookin..1st & only time i ever heard him play, was when his name popped up on a spotify rotation, between Joe Ely & James McMurtry…he’s the mayo that sticks the meat and cheese together..lol…nothing memorable.. I was too lazy to skip his cut, I listened, because I’d heard it mentioned he was from Texas, but i cant even remember what he sounded like. Ive worn groves outta Steves vinyl…Ohnow that i think about it, He is “cute”… like a golden retriever. The best part of all this is, he’s not even in Steves Genus..lordy I’d crawl across hot coals, on my hands and knees to hear Steve pick a guitar. Hes better than any drug I ever did. I was pissed when she hooked up with him. Something in the back of my mind told me she was shallow. I knew her sister, but who was she? Nobody except Shelbys sister, til she married Steve, then she was just Steves new paper doll. Looking for a crack to crawl through. I never liked her…lol..all i can say is Steves got a lotta luv down here in S.A. Tx & Austin. I hope ole Hayseed doesnt show up down here, quippin that chatter…He might not be so cute, with a busted mouth,& a boot up his backside… this jackass is obviously too stupid to know who paved the way for his punk ass to even be on any type of a singer-songwriter roster. Good riddens to bad rubish. Those two ingrates have no respect for their Piers, I hope they can live on love, i cant see either one of them knocking any walls down in this lifetime…they really do deserve each other.
July 6, 2017 @ 3:10 pm
And you misspelled connoisseur. Just saying.
July 6, 2017 @ 4:43 pm
Ok, THAT was pretty good.
January 23, 2018 @ 10:58 pm
Thanks, Gina. Loved your comment and the most intelligent people get the “joke!” Hahahaha… leaving the rest in the dust!
March 8, 2020 @ 10:45 am
Gina, it’s an idiotic joke so it really begs the question. You are in fact only that far-removed from being a full-fledged idiot, but for that matter not any closer than C.Todd, if that can be of any possible consolation. Just saying.
March 8, 2020 @ 11:09 am
Lord Nosu,
Please don’t show up to my comments section 2 1/2 years later to leave down-looking insults at fellow commenters.
Thanks!
March 8, 2020 @ 11:10 am
And you’re commenting on a post that’s two years old. Whatever, dude.
March 8, 2020 @ 5:20 pm
Trigger, yes that’s the old 2 and a 1/2 yr. statute of limitations rule that you must be mentioning, for sure! How true, much obliged for the reminder.
March 9, 2020 @ 6:31 am
BTW a good site, great reading and sorry for any down-looking remarks you might have any issues with, will try to keep my mouth shut in future, will try!!…Thanks!
October 24, 2020 @ 6:28 pm
Ain’t no accountin’ for taste. I wouldn’t turn around to hear the biggest quantity of Steve Earle’s complete oeuvre. His cussedness seeps out through out.
August 3, 2018 @ 2:59 pm
I appreciate what you said very much. I just saw Steve Earle last night at the Greek theater and love him. I was reminded once again of what an incredible talent he is, not to mention being a generous and kind man. I was talking to his bass player, drummer and sound guy/roadie, and they all talked about how well he treated them. (Not common.) It wasn’t a matter of whether it was meant to be a joke, but that under the circumstances it wasn’t remotely funny. Steve obviously said what he did from a place of being heartbroken. It’s not easy being dumped when you’re in your 60s and you have an autistic son, And it’s certainly not easy being dumped for a guy who is obviously younger and thinner and all the rest. I thought Steve was incredibly restrained to simply call him less talented. Meanwhile, Carll ended up with the girl and has many more years ahead of him to pursue his craft. If I were him, I would’ve been gracious, understanding how devastated Earle was. I thought what he said was incredibly cruel. That fact alone tells me he isn’t what I consider a great talent. I don’t know his music and can’t comment on his songwriting. But I do believe that the real greats are gracious and forgiving. His nasty line about Steve Earle, the father of Moorer’s son, causing Allison to leave because he wouldn’t “shut his mouth” is the epitome of kicking a man when he’s down. Even hurting, the worst Earle said was “less talented.” Which still means talented!! And most people are less talented than Steve Earle.)
April 16, 2023 @ 8:49 am
Drama also apparently brings out the bad spellers. What the hell are “Conoseurs”?
July 5, 2017 @ 7:39 pm
Steve would take more memorable shits than this guys music
July 7, 2017 @ 5:33 pm
Hey now. I love Steve Earle but Hayes is very talented as well.
July 5, 2017 @ 7:51 pm
I like Hayes and don’t think he deserved dirty laundry out in public but I guess that’s how Steve rolls.
July 6, 2017 @ 1:05 am
To me it seemed less like a real personal attack from Steve and more like a way to drive attention to his album. He wanted to really fit the “outlaw” attitude as the title suggests so he started calling people out. While I do think there was obviously some truth behind his statements they just seemed sort of phony to me.
July 5, 2017 @ 9:22 pm
Sorry Trig, but this story is a questionable way to lead-in to promoting Alison Moore’s new record in the last paragraph. Previewing that album with Shelby probably would have been more enjoyable read than the muckraking between her ex and her current partner, which is non-news designed to sell Steve’s album and the “outlaw” image going with it.
July 5, 2017 @ 10:52 pm
That’s probably a fair criticism, but if Steve Earle is going to grandstand to promote his album, I don’t see any problem with using the attention it brings to promote Allison Moorer’s too. Besides, I’m probably too late for an album preview (was super busy when the news came down) and too early for an album review. So why not give it a mention for the folks who may have not read about it yet?
July 6, 2017 @ 12:05 am
“I think she left you because you wouldn’t shut your mouth.” Thanks Trig for my morning chuckle.
July 6, 2017 @ 3:18 am
Steve’s remark about Hayes may have been tongue in cheek it’s hard to tell when you only see it written rather than spoken.Steve can be gruff and surly sometimes for sure but he does possess a sense of humour as well.
July 6, 2017 @ 6:22 am
It is a shame this is the gossip going on..
Focus should be on Earle’s new album which I find fantastic.
July 6, 2017 @ 7:06 am
Both of these guys are about as tough as a medium rare filet.
July 6, 2017 @ 10:14 am
I think you are right on that.
July 8, 2018 @ 7:18 am
LOL. They’re musicians, not gladiators.
If by tough you mean drunkenly stumbling over other fans, spilling your beer on them, then getting in a fight and tossed from the show meanwhile ruining the experience for everyone around you, then I’ll take the filet any day. That’s what passes for “real country” tough at the recent shows I’ve been at.
July 6, 2017 @ 7:10 am
I can’t decide whether to quit listening to Earle’s music, or just continue to not listen to it as I always have. F’off Steve.
July 6, 2017 @ 9:05 am
Six eggs in one, half dozen in the other, no?
July 6, 2017 @ 8:20 am
Fuck off Sam more like
July 7, 2017 @ 7:22 am
Exactly right Norrie. I can’t remember every hearing any Sam Cody songs and I’m sure Steve Earle doesn’t give a shit if he listens or not.
July 6, 2017 @ 8:55 am
after reading about this feud on Steve Earle & Hayes Carll made me look for all there songs to listen to
now i can’t make up my mind on whose side i should be on…maybe i should sit back and relax..and let the “Outlaw Effect” take it’s place…it has already taken infection on my musical sense…it made me think about it all night long…
July 6, 2017 @ 9:06 am
I like Hayes Carll. I like Steve Earle. Their beef is their own, and based on personal bullshit. I feel no need to choose sides. I hope the best for both of them.
July 6, 2017 @ 9:07 am
hayes is prettier and younger and that goes a long way
steve earl is an old bull in the texas sun whose work is never done
we will never know until we can retrospect their entire lives
and no one would wish for that
as it stands steve is the beatles
and hayes is a rolling stone
March 5, 2020 @ 4:45 am
Bee Gees, not the Stones…hallowed ground..lol
July 6, 2017 @ 9:11 am
#teamHayes shame on you steve, no reason for that.
July 6, 2017 @ 10:49 am
I like Steve Earle’s music a lot.
Steve Earle, though, not as much.
July 6, 2017 @ 11:00 am
Yes he’s a lunatic
July 6, 2017 @ 11:21 am
Hayes is,a Genius whether Mr Earle liked it or not!
July 6, 2017 @ 11:51 am
Did you see Trigger where Sam Hunt sited Steve Earle, Guy Clark as idols in a new radio interview? ? I wish he heard how they thought of his music!
July 6, 2017 @ 12:11 pm
It’s all marketing. Before releasing “Body Like a Backroad,” Sam Hunt said his new music would be deeper than his previous material.
July 7, 2017 @ 7:25 am
It should be deeper Trig. Buried about 6 feet deep and covered in concrete so it can never dig itself back out.
July 6, 2017 @ 11:55 am
So you wanna be an outlaw, son you better think twice.
You better not pout and you better not cry.
Cuz there won’t nobody give a damn about you when you die.
But the devil when he comes for his due.
#TeamEarle2017
July 6, 2017 @ 12:35 pm
I cant lie but I was waiting for drama about it through the whole show. I was asking everyone if they knew of the situation but I guess I was the only one informed.
July 6, 2017 @ 1:01 pm
Call me when one of them shows up at the other’s house with a half empty bottle of Jack Daniels and a 12 gauge shotgun. Until then this doesn’t even rise to middle school girl drama.
July 6, 2017 @ 5:25 pm
This response reminds of the old sayings about arguing with an idiot or wrestling with a pig. Nothing to gain.
Earle is no different than a drunk at the bar except he can actually sing beyond karaoke.
July 7, 2017 @ 7:11 am
And Steve is sober.
July 6, 2017 @ 5:49 pm
Steve Earle is an asshole.
Horrible fucking singer.
And he’s an overrated songwriter.
Guitar Town….Copperhead Road…they blow.
America,baby.
July 7, 2017 @ 5:38 pm
At least go listen to the Mountain album. Harlan Man is about as good as it gets.
July 6, 2017 @ 5:51 pm
Can’t believe Trigger still has an immense hard-on for Sam Hunt.
July 7, 2017 @ 8:17 am
I can’t believe it’s not butter
July 6, 2017 @ 6:30 pm
Hayes Carl will feel Allison’s sting soon enough. She left Butch Prim, a songwriter less talented than Hayes, for Steve Earle. Then she left Earle for Carl. She’s got a thing for… well you can tell. One thing I can say though, Steve Earle kept her in the Americana spotlight all of these years. She couldn’t get arrested with the records she made after her MCA deal. No one cared. The only success she had was that one song she co-wrote with a great writer that her label got in the “Horse Whisperer” movie. Maybe Shelby can help her get some momentum going. I can’t believe how many of you would even put Carl in the same category with Earle. I don’t give a rat’s ass about Steve Earle’s new music but he is a fucking legend and his first few albums inspired at least a few generations of songwriters and artists. Hayes Carl is pubescent as an artist compared to Steve Earle. Some of you have no understanding of this music and its roots. That is all.
July 7, 2017 @ 1:00 am
Steve Earle would be a great Texas singer/songwriter….but he’s got one big problem that’s screwing up his career and ultimately his legacy…..
When he shows up in your town to play a concert, he can’t help but bringing up his screwball left-wing politics. He attacks Conservatives and Republicans in his audience and tries to embarrass us. What’s up with that? Nobody gives a shit about his politics, so why doesn’t he just shut the hell up and sing?
Get off the wacky liberal communist politics Steve….and we’ll start buying tickets for your concerts again.
July 7, 2017 @ 5:05 am
I’m a member of that “shut up and sing” camp. Left, right, center, if there IS a center, shut the fuck up and sing. I’ll shut up now.
July 7, 2017 @ 7:17 am
I admire singers who stand up for what they believe in (remember the Dixie Chicks?) when I agree with them (as I do with Steve Earle).
July 7, 2017 @ 4:06 pm
The Dixie Who?
Doug, you’ve illustrated my point precisely! When artists go political, that doesn’t attract new fans. It just alienates half of their current fan base. Conservatives and Republicans buy albums and go to concerts too, you know. When you crap on us, we’ll move on to other artists that stay out of the gutter.
The Dixie Dips failed to understand this….and apparently Steve Earle doesn’t understand it either.
July 7, 2017 @ 4:43 pm
Ejw: I think it’s more important to Steve Earle to speak his mind about issues he cares deeply about than it is to attract or retain fans. He’s a defiant as well as opinionated. Similarly, I don’t think he’d see speaking out about issues that concern him as crapping on his audience (in fact it’s likely that whatever fan base he has appreciates his speaking out) and I’m sure he would disagree that speaking his mind amounts to wallowing in the gutter. Artists who feel differently about this are free to keep their political views to themselves, as many no doubt do, and music fans who feel differently are free not to buy tickets or albums, as many obviously do.
July 8, 2017 @ 4:08 am
Doug,
When Steve Earle seeks out Republicans and Conservatives in his audience and then goes after them….that’s just inappropriate. That’s getting down in the gutter. We didn’t buy tickets to listen to some Marxist political rant, we showed up hoping to hear good music. We were ripped off.
The Dixie Dipshits wound up in the trash heap of country music irrelevancy because they put their assanine politics before their music. Sadly, that’s where Steve Earle is going to end up if he doesn’t give up the bizarre political rants at his shows.
You can disagree with me all you want, but ultimately the fans get to decide how all of this ends….with our wallets. Think about it.
July 8, 2017 @ 6:20 am
EjwTexan — If Steve Earle is attacking audience members at his shows rather than simply expressing his own views, that sounds like it is crossing the line. I agree with you that having respect for the audience is important. I’d also agree with you that it’s a problem if in concerts Steve lets his politics overwhelm the music. I haven’t seen Steve perform for years, so I don’t know if that’s the case or not. (I feel differently about private political discourse. In the era of Trump, I don’t buy into the “we can all talk to each other even if we have different views.” If you’re a supporter of Trump’s policies, rhetoric and behavior, I don’t want to talk to you.) In any event, as I stated earlier, I don’t disagree with you at all that “ultimately the fans get to decide how this ends…with our wallets.” I imagine Steve is comfortable with that. Don’t know about the Dixie Chicks.
January 23, 2018 @ 11:08 pm
Good one, Bob Moore! Best comment yet. You should be a poet or a songwriter! (if you’re not already…)
January 23, 2018 @ 11:10 pm
Thank you Doug! An INTELLIGENT, inclusive comment that I fear falls on some of the deaf ears here. So glad I don’t have them as neighbors or have to deal with them at all. We need more people like Doug in this world! Diversity of people and opinions is what makes our country great. Not the opposite, no matter what some people seen to think.
July 10, 2017 @ 10:44 pm
LOL.
“The problem with Steve Earle is I disagree with his politics.”
Doesn’t actually sound like a Steve Earle problem. Sounds like you’re asking for a safe space.
July 12, 2017 @ 3:38 pm
“The problem with Steve Earle is I disagree with his politics” – who said that?
Kevin, You put quotes around that as if somebody in this conversation actually said that. Hmmm?
Steve Earle can have any political views he wishes to have. That’s great, and that’s what makes America the awesome country that it is.
What I have a problem with is paying money to go hear a concert and having to sit through a bizarre political rant. As a music fan, I get to decide what albums I buy and what concerts I go to. I’m simply saying that I choose not to go to concerts where the singer/songwriter enjoys going off on left-wing political rants.
And yes, if Steve Earle continues down this road, it will eventually become a huge problem for him because music fans generally don’t put up with this behavior for very long.
It’s not my problem though. And no I don’t need a “safe space” like the precious little snowflakes need on their college campuses. As a consumer in a free-market capitalistic society such as ours, I get to freely choose where and how I spend my money. And I choose not to spend it on Steve Earle because of the weird stuff he tries to pull in the middle of his concerts.
August 22, 2017 @ 12:03 pm
So, you haven’t listened to much of his music since his earliest albums (which were terrible)?
How can you say that the guy who released “Jerusalem” or “The Revolution Starts Now” or wrote/ recorded great songs like “Over Yonder” and “Christmas in Washington” shouldn’t be political in concert?? That’s completely ludicrous. Go see a left wing folk singer singing left wing folk songs & then whine that they have the audacity to discuss left wing ideas? Perhaps skip past likeminded folk like Corb Lund, Billy Bragg, etc. then & stick to your Toby Keith with his moronic patriotic fart noises…
August 22, 2017 @ 3:57 pm
Yeah dude, when I bought the concert tix, I had no idea that Steve Earle was a Marxist left-wing political hack. But it’s crystal clear to me now. Got it…thanks! I won’t be attending any of his concerts ever again.
July 7, 2017 @ 6:00 am
I don’t give a shit if they like each other, I like them both. I don’t enjoy listening to folks spew politics instead of perform though. I agree with James. Hell, I listened to Steve Earl, Ted Nugent, Jason Isbell, Ricky Skaggs, Sturgill, and The Stanley Brothers in one sitting yesterday. Would not have been able to if I cared about their political/religious beliefs too much. All I can say about the article is that I don’t care who stole who’s girlfriend. Your articles are always purposeful and well written Trigger so nothing against you. I just wish these guys would just give us more great music to read about than their lover’s quarrels. My two cents.
July 7, 2017 @ 4:27 pm
Who the Hell cares. .??? There weren’t any Names mentioned. Hayes is Good, So is Steve. One last thing, Steve said : I’ll say any damn thing I want to say and F the FCC and the CIA and all you wingnuts. You think you can say whatever you want and you can, but Steve can fire his sh*t right back at you. “Nowhere Road” down on Copperline…!!#
July 8, 2017 @ 3:14 pm
The more I hear Steve’s new album the better it gets a contender for album of the year and it stays clear of politics.
I’m a fan of Hayes as well and I’m glad I realised just in time when seeing him last year that wearing a Steve Earle T Shirt might not be a good idea especially as I met Hayes with Allison outside the venue and Allison took a picture of Hayes and I with my phone when I asked if he would allow me a selfie with him
July 10, 2017 @ 7:10 am
She left him for (a songwriting) Jesus.
July 10, 2017 @ 8:47 am
Earle was great in The Wire and I like his XM show. Love a lot of his music. Felt like I didn’t get my money’s worth (~$90) when I saw him in concert, but will give it another shot when I get a chance.
This here is some middle school bullshit.
Shelby Lynne is cooler than the whole lot of them.
July 10, 2017 @ 12:34 pm
Well, at least she didn’t leave him for Jesus!
July 10, 2017 @ 10:48 pm
I like Hayes Carll.
That said…you can listen to most of his songs and the influence slaps you right in the face…Bad Liver and Broken Heart (one of my favorite “Steve Earle” songs written in the last 20 years, with a title stolen from Tom Waits).
July 11, 2017 @ 11:28 am
I like Steve Earle but I must say Hayes is correct, Steve talks too much. Ever listen to him do an interview on his show on Outlaw Country ?
He talks over his guest constantly, to the point it’s funny. Boys fighten over their wimmen !!!
July 20, 2018 @ 2:11 pm
It’s Like Biggie and Tupac in the mid Ninties… with Fiddles.
November 17, 2019 @ 5:05 pm
Plain and simple, Steve Earle is an a__hole. He hasn’t put out any decent outlaw country music since his Copperhead Road album, which, by the way, is about thirty years old. He’s lost his singling voice, he’s lost his song-writing imagination, and he’s not all-that-good a musician.
Furthermore, Earle constantly slams the United States of America, and flatly states that: “I wish that America was a socialist country; the only kind of government I support is socialism.”
As we know all-too-well, socialism is nothing more than “Communism-light.” Down through the ages, and all over the world, socialism has been tried time-and-time-again, and has failed dismally and catastrophically.
Earle reminds me of an angry adolescent–a person who doesn’t know how to live life on life’s terms. He’s washed up as an Outlaw Country artist, which is why he’s now sunk so low that he must resort to doing “cover albums” (i.e.; his latest “cover album” where he butchers many of Guy Clark’s greatest songs). Go away, Earle; move to Venezuela, a “fine example” of how socialism is suppose to work.