Steve Earle: Just An American Boy

By GRAHAM REID

(Herald rating: * * * *)

Filmed during his recent Jerusalem tour - with digressions into a bluegrass concert and radio interviews - this non-chronological account slowly reveals the man, his politics and past.

Sound levels change alarmingly, however.

In concert he delivers in a monochromatic growl which might surprise those who haven't seen him (he's here in a fortnight), but most interest lies in his articulate, sometimes amusing, but mostly angry observations of America under a regime of self-censorship and post-September 11 fear.

He says: "No matter what anybody tells you, it is never, ever unpatriotic or un-American to question anything in a democracy." Crucial.

Label: Elite