He spent a little over a month in the hoosegow and underwent methadone treatment at a hospital near Nashville. He cleaned up in 1995, and upon his release tore into his music again with a vengeance. In The Way alumnus Peter Rowan on guitar, and the late, great Roy Huskey, Jr. on stand-up bass. In what little spare time he's had over the past five years, Earle has formed his own record label called E-Squared. On A Gravel Road .
Earle is also heavily involved in various social and political causes.
A fervent opponent of the death penalty, he's the brains behind a series of anti-death penalty music events known as The Journey of Hope. In addition, he's worked for Amnesty International and he's visited Vietnam and Cambodia several times as part of the Campaign for a Landmine Free World. And if that's not enough to keep him occupied, Earle's putting the finishing touches on a book of short stories called Doghouse Roses and writing some haikus for publication down the road. Has Come Today with Sheryl Crow, and produced Jackson Browne and Joan Osborne covering Bob Dylan's My Back Pages . Both tunes will be featured on the soundtrack of an upcoming movie about 60s activist Abbie Hoffman called Steal This Movie .