Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell @ the Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, 15 May 2013

Two acts rolled into one, a great prospect in the offing and so it turned out to be. My introduction to Emmylou Harris was as a member of Gram Parsons' band The Fallen Angels and as a collaborator on his two solo albums and therefore it was a real thrill to hear the opening song The Return of the Grievous Angel which was followed by Chris Hillman & Gram's song Wheels. Knowing these song so well made it interesting to hear them live but with the male part being sung by Rodney Crowell rather than the late, great Mr Parsons added an extra dimension.

Emmylou & Rodney

Having got the inevitable tribute to her mentor out of the way, the next two hours plus were filled with Harris and Crowell compositions with the odd Kris Kristofferson song (Chase the Feeling), Patti Scialfa's (aka Mrs Springsteen) Spanish Dancer and Roger Miller's Invitation to the Blues. There were also a couple of Townes Van Zandt songs, including Pancho & Lefty, the late Susanna Clark's I'll be your San Antone Rose and a Louvin Brother's song thrown into the mix. We were also treated to, amongst others, Red Dirt Girl, Boulder to Birmingham and Still Learning How to Fly on which the wonderful band let loose with some fantastic solos. The first half was brought to an end with a rousing rendition of Luxury Liner, the title of Emmylou's 1977 album. 

The second half kicked off with a solo version of Emmylou's extremely touching and poignant Darlin' Kate, a song written about her good friend Kate McGarrigle (mother of Rufus & Martha Wainwright who died of cancer aged 63 in 2010). The band then returned to the stage and the show moved on through the gears ending with the final song Old Yellow Moon from the album of the same name by Harris & Cowell. 

Steve Fishell

Emmylou Harris (66) from Birmingham, Alabama, who has 12 Grammy Awards to her name, first met Rodney Crowell (62, born in Crosby, Texas) in 1975 and he subsequently became a member of her Hot Band for three years before making a name or himself. In addition, the band consisted of Jedd Hughes on electric guitar (a 31 year old from Quorn, Australia), Byron House on bass (a 51 year old who also played on Band of Joy with Robert Plant and hails from Bowling Green, Kentucky), Steve Fishell on pedal steel guitar (another former member of the Hot Band from Nashville), Chris Tuttle on piano (also from Nashville) and the self taught Jerry Roe on drums. Each and everyone of these guys was fantastic and it was a joy to see and hear such consummate professionals plying their trade with such evident fun. 

The Band

Just before the final song, during the encore, there was a moment when Emmylou whispered to Rodney and he was clearly not planning this but the band then sang one of his songs called Glasgow Girl which seemed pretty obvious but perhaps on tour it is easy to forget just where you are at any given time! Needless to say, the audience loved it especially hearing about the Glasgow girl with her "skin like milk, hair black silk, and eye's like cobalt pearl"!

A bigger gig than I have been to recently, but still a wonderful night out and we were thoroughly entertained by an extremely talented bunch of musicians. It was also noteworthy that the two 'stars' had a few cups of tea to sustain them through the show, changed days!