Emmylou Still the Best

 I first heard Emmylou Harris back in the mid-70s, and she's been at the top of my list ever since.  She's changed of course and does not have the crystalline, effortless voice she used to, and she's no longer a drop-dead gorgeous 27-year old, but who is?  She's still capable of riveting me with her ability to make a great country or folk song even more heartfelt, and at the same time, cosmic and timeless.  And she's still beautiful.

So I'm always looking to see if she's going to be performing in New England, and I was delighted to see her scheduled for a short tour, including the Chevalier Theatre in Medford on March 24.  I clicked through and they told me the tickets weren't on sale yet, then I clicked through again ... and amazingly they were offering me the chance to choose tickets ... in the third row!?!  So I bought three, at a very high price, thinking that they were going to slam the door on me at any second, but I got them.  When tickets went on sale to the general public I guess they went fast, and she was soon scheduled for a second show in the Boston area, the next night at the Wilbur.

I anticipated that a 76-year old country artist would play pretty much the same set each night on a short tour.  Just before the show I looked at what she'd played in Pennsylvania the night before, and was very happy with the song selection.  But then she mixed it up to an amazing extent, playing about half the same songs but half different ones.  So I should have gone to see her at the Wilbur too!  She's got such an extensive repertoire after all these years, and she knocks all those songs out of the park.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.   The three of us toodled down to Medford on a seasonal Sunday Spring late afternoon and met our friends for dinner (with their daughters and mates).  Well, the less said about that restaurant the better.  We extricated ourselves from the place and joined a crowd of older folk lining up to get into the Chevalier, a recently restored small theater, where I'd never been.  I definitely would go there again.

The house filled up soon, and Emmy came on with her current band, the "Red Dirt Boys."  This is Phil Madeira on electric piano, accordion, and acoustic guitar, Will Kimbrough on lead electric guitar, Chris Donohue on electric and upright bass, Bryan Owings on drums, and also Eamon McLoughlin (who's not a regular member of the band) on mandolin, cittern, and fiddle.  And they all contributed excellent vocals as well.  Kimbrough did some duets with Emmylou, and Madeira joined those two to form an a cappella trio on Bright Morning Stars.  But Donahue also contributed some astounding high tenor backup, and McLoughlin filled in with some wonderful bass harmonies.

And in the middle of it all was Emmylou, who switched back and forth between steel-string acoustics.  One disadvantage to being so close to a country/bluegrass band (we were third row, on the right of the center section of the orchestra), is that the sound can be a little muddy, as you can hear the instruments, and also the amplified sound echoing back at you.  But I'm used to this and adjusted my ears accordingly.  Emmylou's voice took a few songs to warm up, and she was careful not to push it even after the pipes did warm up.  But she knows what she's doing up there to say the least and entertained us with one of the best concerts of hers I've ever heard.  This was the 11th time I've seen her live, she had a fantastic band (when has she not?), and she's an amazing professional who lets her charming, easy-going personality shine through.  And she played my favorite song of hers, as she always does when I'm around.

Here's what's posted as her setlist, with my corrections:

• Here I Am
• Orphan Girl (Gillian Welch)
• Red Dirt Girl
• Making Believe (Jimmy Work)
• Goodbye (Steve Earle)
• One of These Days (Earl Montgomery)
• Old Five and Dimers Like Me (Billy Joe Shaver)
• Gulf Coast Highway (Nanci Griffith)
• Michelangelo
• The Pearl
• Luxury Liner (Gram Parsons)
• Millworker (James Taylor)
• Green Pastures (Ralph Stanley)
• Goin' Back to Harlan (Anna McGarrigle)
• Wheels (Parsons/Hillman)
• Shores of White Sand (J.W. Routh)
• Bright Morning Stars (traditional)
• Love and Happiness
• Get Up John (Bill Monroe)
• Boulder to Birmingham

The order still may not be 100% correct, I didn't take notes as the concert went along and the posted soundlist definitely has errors.  Oh well, this is pretty correct and it was amazing!!

OK, it was a little spotty and some of the songs did not really take off, but most sure did.  I was glad she did such a great mix of old songs and more recent ones, also of covers and originals.  Highlights to my ear:

• She introduced Goodbye as "one of the saddest songs ever written" and I have to agree.  Her voice just wraps around this song like she was there in Mexico.
• One Of These Days is the favorite song I was talking about, and she had me on the edge of my seat for this.  I love this lyric.
• Wonderful that she did a Billie Joe song, and some of the vocal arrangements, starting with this, were sublime.
• Just wonderful cover of Nanci's Gulf Coast Highway, including a duet vocal from Kimbrough.  She introduced with a nice little eulogy.
• Millworker has always been one of my favorite covers of hers.  I can't believe she didn't do this when we saw her in the Lowell NHP in 2013!  She really twisted the emotional knife on the "for the rest of my life" line.
• I've heard Wheels many, many times but this was a great cover with a great arrangement.
• Boulder To Birmingham was a fantastic set closer, and her vocal on this was just beyond description.  I had to reality-check myself all through the concert and say, "I'm actually hearing and seeing Emmylou Harris sing this, right in front of me.  This is not a recording or a dream."

You'd better believe that everyone in the packed theatre was standing and clapping and shouting when she finished (though some of the older audience members had to be helped up).  Emmy was as gracious as ever, and seemed really touched by the reception.  I think some people consider Northerners really reserved, and can be surprised when they show emotion.

The band took a short break and then came back out for an encore.  Emmylou told us they had a couple more songs for us (they've been doing one song when they've been doing encores, so this was special).  They did Pancho and Lefty, introduced by Emmylou telling us about meeting Townes Van Zandt for the first time in Gerde's Folk City in the sixties.  And they ended with a rocking cover of Rodney Crowell's Leaving Louisiana In the Broad Daylight.

Wooh!  Another standing ovation, a group bow from the band, and they were gone.  I loved this concert.  Will we ever see Emmylou Harris again?  I sure hope so.