American Made

Steve Earle And His Rice Burner
By Bryce Martin

Selling cars at Rally Mitsubishi in Nashville around 1990 I sometimes wandered into the service department. Seeing the name Teresa Ensenat written down on a customer log at the counter, I recognized the name as being Steve Earle's wife and a former rock 'n' roll promoter from Los Angeles. I mentioned it to the service writer and he said the vehicle, a Mitsubishi Montero, was Steve Earle's. The service shop had completed the prescribed work for it and parked it in back. But, on a Sunday the lowdown Midnight Auto Supply firm had climbed the fence, broke out a window, ripped out the stereo system and fled with it and whatever else was filchable. The dealership had to replace it all and had just finished putting it back together. The counterman said Steve was to take delivery in the afternoon. With some vigilance, I caught Steve just before he left, and I would never had recognized him had I not known the situation. He was as slender as a rail and his thin face was sunk in to where his cheek bones protruded. His young son, Justin, had the most radical haircut I had ever seen, and he was all about conjuring up a mean stare and holding it. He reminded me of the feral boy in the movie Mad Max. I thought to myself, this kid is off to a bad start in life already.

The Mitsubishi was an odd choice since Steve had written and sang a song earlier in his career decrying the sudden proliferation of foreign cars on our highways and the need to keep Detroit foremost in our minds. At least that was the message I got from his "Sweet Little 66":

But she was built by union labor on American soil
Sweet little '66
So when your Subaru is over and your Honda's history
I'll be blastin' down some back road with my baby next to me
In my sweet little 66

The song is now dated and maybe even confusing to new listeners, because by today's standards a car can be built by union labor on Amercan soil and still be a foreign car.

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