As a renowned singer, songwriter and musician, Emmylou Harris will no doubt need little or no introduction. Harris is, without doubt, one of the all-time greats. Her contribution to music over the years is summed up magnificently in the notes accompanying her 2005 compilation album ‘The Very Best of Emmylou Harris: Heartaches and Highways’ as “a cornerstone of the country-rock genre, who led country music back to its roots, who was a trailblazer for female musical collaborations, who prefigured the resurgence of bluegrass, and who became a key artist of the Americana movement”. Continue reading “AmericanA to Z – Emmylou Harris”
Nashville resident Phil Madeira is an almost perfect example of those “cats” John Sebastian sang about all those years ago. A multi instrumentalist, an in demand session musician, hit songwriter (for Keb’ Mo’, Alison Krauss and The Civil Wars among others) and producer, he’s probably best known as a member of Emmylou Harris’s Red Dirt band and more recently for having helmed (with Harris) two volumes of ‘Mercyland: Hymns for the Rest of Us’, collections of faith based songs sung by several of his famous friends. 
Toronto’s David Celia has seen it all touring extensively across Europe and North America in promotion of his latest album ‘Double Mind‘, so he’s picked up a trick or two along the way. Tonight’s turnout on a cold Tuesday night was below-par by The Bell’s standards but the Canadian singer/songwriter made the best of it early on, acknowledging the fact with a wry joke and pressing gamely ahead. He was joined by Marla, a fellow singer/songwriter from Germany and together they threw up images of a young Gram and Emmylou stepping out for the first time full of hope and fresh original songs of change. The venue lent itself to the atmosphere; The Bell is an intimate and dedicated shrine to the glory years of transatlantic musical heroes. 
Well when we say “talk” we mean fire the usual round of q & as they have on a Saturday with random celebrities, but nonetheless it’s better than hearing Jeremy Clarkson list his ideal dinner party guests as Katy Hopkins, Genghis Khan, King Herod and Goebbels. Emmylou talks about rethinking her career, laughing with Dolly Parton and shopping with Neil Young (probably best in that order). You can find it over at the Guardian 
Chris Stapleton and Emmylou Harris payed tribute to Tom Petty at the Grammy Awards last night. As RS reports: “As colorful images of flowers flashed on screens behind them, the two Nashville singers blended their voices on the title track to Petty’s 1994 Wildflowers album, a song that stands as one of the late rock icon’s most country-leaning tunes. Stapleton and Harris’s performance set up the annual In Memoriam segment, which recalled the musical heroes we lost over the past year.”