AMERICAN singer-songwriter Steve Earle rolls into town on Wednesday, one of the biggest names to have been attracted to the Alhambra since its re-opening.

The 1988 rock album Copperhead Road is perhaps his best known release in commercial terms but his work has ranged from blues, to folk, to country and bluegrass over different periods.

He has also turned his hand to acting, portraying the recovered drug addict Walon in several episodes of the hit TV series 'The Wire'.

Steve (below), known to his fans as the 'Hardcore Troubadour', is himself a former heroin addict and his drug problem ended up with him in jail in the early 1990s.

After kicking his habit, his music career has flourished and his comeback album 'Train A Comin'' (1995) was Grammy-nominated, one of fourteen such honours.

His albums 'The Revolution Starts Now', 'Washington Square Serenade' and 'Townes' won Grammy awards in the contemporay folk category in 2005, 2008 and 2010.

He has worked on projects with many artists including the late Johnny Cash, The Pogues, Joan Baez and Waylon Jennings.

Steve has been at the forefront of a number of political causes over the decades mainly against the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and also against the death penalty.

His song 'The Revolution Starts Now' was used in and to promote Michael Moore's documentary film Fahrenheit 9/11.