I'll Never Get Out of This World Alive (Deluxe Edition)

iTunes Review

Named after the Hank Williams song that was released just before he died, I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive is another solid collection of Earle compositions. Producer T Bone Burnett keeps things natural, with extraordinary session players — drummer Jay Bellerose, bassist Dennis Crouch, pedal steel player Greg Leisz — and a handful of other special guests, fiddle player Sara Watkins of Nickel Creek and Earle’s wife Allison Moorer. The songs all have a tinge of mortality lurking, since the album was written at the time of Earle’s father’s death. “Meet Me In the Alleyway” is the album’s one moment of true grit. Otherwise, the highlights are mostly ballads: “Every Part of Me,” “Lonely Are the Free” and “I Am a Wanderer.” “This City,” featured in the HBO series Treme has been nominated for both an Emmy and GRAMMY. The Deluxe Edition of the album features an exemplary version of the Hank Williams title track and a video of the making of the album.