LEJ, I sincerely hope that Steve Earle does not break through on country radio -- I think he's the best songwriter working today, and if he was to "cross over" to mainstream country radio, I think it would destroy me. Fortunately, lots of people can't stand his voice, and it is certainly rougher around the edges than what you generally hear on country radio. Also, he's an ornery son of a bitch, so he wouldn't fit their marketing plans all that well (plus he's on his own label, which is a small detail they'd have to take care of).

I think it's more likely that we'll start hearing Steve Earle songs done by other artists on country radio (and I agree, "I Don't Want To Lose You Yet" is a good candidate for this). Kind of like the smooth cover versions of Tom Waits songs that we sometimes hear, even though you'll almost never hear the originals on mainstream radio.