OTTAWA - Sometimes, it's not about finishing the journey, it's about what you went through to get to your destination.  

So it is with Steve Earle, who won a legion of fans in the '80s with his tough-as-nails blend of country and hard rock, lost it all in the haze of heroin addiction, and is currently taking the long, hard road back.

  Puffing on a cigarette, sporting cool-daddio shades that hid any hint of his humor and backed by The Dukes -- four backing players who all shared that bad-ass show-cause-hearing glare criminals wear -- a bear-like Earle whacked out the first chords and announced: "I feel alright tonight."

  As they raced through the opening set of songs, it was a constant delight to become reacquainted with Earle's peerless songbook. My Old Friend The Blues, Someday, Nowhere Road, Angry Young Man, I Ain't Ever Satisfied -- the hits just keep on coming. Earle and company served up lean versions of each, and the singer betrayed a smile when the crowd roared out the chorus to I Ain't Ever Satisfied.

  The newer songs, More Than I Can Do, CCKMP and South Nashville Blues, can all take their place along side those classics.

  Earle even obliged with a brand-new unrecorded song and trotted out a cover of Son Volt's Windfall (and he's right, you should buy their record).

  But the real highlight of the night is Earle himself. He's the last of the hardcore troubadours, to borrow his phrase.

  "I'm back out on the road again...There are those who break and bend," Earle sang. "I'm the other kind."

  And that pretty much sums it up.

  Accompanied only by an acoustic guitarist, Newfoundland singer Damhnait Doyle opened the show with a gutsy set that showcased her mighty vocal prowess and brassy, winning personality. But jitters apparently brought on by crowd heckling and anticipated end-of-tour shenanigans sapped whatever momentum her short set built up.

  SUN RATING: FOUR STARS