on saturday night, shannon and i had the immense privilege to (finally) see emmylou harris live in concert. i say finally because we were supposed to see her 7 or 8 years ago, when she unfortunately broke her wrist a few days before the show, and it was cancelled. we've been sort of sad about that all these years, and so we were so excited to have this opportunity to see her as she tours with rodney crowell, a former member of her hot band, and great songwriter himself, in support of their collaborative album which came out earlier this year called "old yellow moon."
i don't get to go to nearly as many concerts as i'd like to, so i was pretty excited about this opportunity to see a living legend, and so was shannon. we pretended that emmylou had joined us for dinner: homemade cheddar broccoli soup and freshly made applesauce.
not long after, i donned my cowboy hat and we headed up to lewisburg to the weis center at bucknell university, found our seats (great seats!....thank you d and r!), and settled in for the show.
and she did not disappoint! shannon and i both noted as we were driving home that we were both smiling ear-to-ear. it was a great night of music - 27 songs! - that had a strong honky-tonk flavor, along with some more folky pieces thrown in along the way. through it all, emmylou was exquisite, her beautiful and unique soprano voice a kind of spiritual sound, whether weaving a tale about her former mentor, or making interesting harmonies with crowell. i sat there like a sponge, just trying to soak up every drop of it, 10 rows away. they were supported by a great group of musicians, including a lead guitarist who was exceedingly good, and a piano/accordion player who was having a blast. they did a wide collection of songs, mostly from the "songwriters from texas" songbook, including crowell, parsons, and van zandt, among others. i wrote down the set list, and fleshed it out with some details for my own purposes, but decided to include here, in case anyone was interested.
all in all, i was one very happy guy, after getting to see one of my musical "heroes" do an amazing show. i am still basking in it.
1. return of the grievous angel (written by gram parsons, recorded by parsons with emmylou harris on 1974's "grievous angel," as well as covers by lucinda williams, counting crows, and others)
2. wheels (written by chris hillman and gram parsons, recorded by the flying burrito brothers on 1969's "gilded palace of sin" and again by emmylou harris on 1975's "elite hotel")
3. pancho and lefty (written by townes van zandt for 1972's "the late great townes van zandt," also recorded by emmylou harris for 1977's "luxury liner," and again, most famously, by willie nelson and merle haggard in 1983 for their duet album "pancho and lefty")
4. earthbound (written by rodney crowell, recorded by crowell for 2003's "fate's right hand")
5. 'til i gain control again (written by rodney crowell, performed by crowell on his self titled album, emmylou harris on "elite hotel;" willie nelson on "greatest hits (and some that will be);" as well as crystal gale)
6. if i needed you (written by townes van zandt; performed by emmylou harris on "cimarron.")
7. one of these days (written by earl montgomery, recorded by emmylou harris for 1976's "elite hotel")
8. red dirt girl (written by emmylou harris, from her album "red dirt girl")
9. the houston kid (written by rodney crowell, from his album "the houston kid")
10. love hurts (written by feliz and boudleaux bryant; recorded by gram parsons, the everly brothers, and roy orbison, among others; this song has long been a staple of emmlou's reportiore, as a kind of reflection on her relationship with gram parsons)
11. luxury liner (written by gram parsons; recorded by emmylou on 1977's "luxury liner")
12 the road (written by emmylou harris, about her relationship with gram parsons, recorded on 2011's "hard bargain", her 26th studio album!)
13. the angels rejoiced last night (written by ira and charlie louvin from their 1959 album "satan is real")
14. long time girl gone by (written by rodney crowell and mary carr from the 2012 album "kin")
15. i know that love is all i need (written by rodney crowell, from his 2001 album, "the houston kid")
16. hanging up my heart (written by hank devito, who was the pedal steel guitarist in emmylou's 'hot band,' and recorded as the title track of sissy spacek's 1983 album)
17. invitation to the blues (written by roger miller, recorded by ray price and reba mcentire, among others, including emmylou harris and rodney crowell on their 2013 album "old yellow moon").
18. spanish dancer (written by patti scialfa, recorded by scialfa and by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on their 2013 album "old yellow moon")
19. chase the feeling (written by kris kristofferson, recorded by kristofferson on his 2006 album "this old road," and by emmylou harris and rodney crowell on "old yellow moon")
20. dreaming my dreams with you (written by allen reynolds, recorded by waylon jennings on his 1975 album "dreaming my dreams," and by collin raye on 1994's "extreme," and by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on 2013's "old yellow moon," among others)
21. back when we were beautiful (written by matrace berg, recorded by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on "old yellow moon.")
22. still learning how to fly (written by rodney crowell, and recorded by him on his 2003 album "fate's right hand")
23. leaving louisiana in the broad daylight (written by rodney crowell and donovan cowart, recorded by emmylou harris on 1978's "quarter moon in a ten cent town" and by the oak ridge boys on 1979's "the oak ridge boys have arrived")
24. i ain't livin' long like this (written by rodney crowell, recorded by crowell on 1978's "ain't livin' long like this," by emmylou harris on 1978's "quarter moon in a ten cent town," and by waylon jennings on 1979's "what goes around comes around," among others)
25. old yellow moon (written by lynn langham and hank devito, recorded by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on "old yellow moon")
------------------------------encore break-------------------------------------------
26. stars on the water (written by rodney crowell from his 1981 album "rodney crowell," and also recorded by george strait on 2001's "the road less traveled" and by jimmy buffet on 1987's "one particular harbor")
27. even cowgirls get the blues (written by rodney crowell, recorded by emmylou harris with dolly parton and linda ronstadt on 1979's "blue kentucky girl")
i don't get to go to nearly as many concerts as i'd like to, so i was pretty excited about this opportunity to see a living legend, and so was shannon. we pretended that emmylou had joined us for dinner: homemade cheddar broccoli soup and freshly made applesauce.
not long after, i donned my cowboy hat and we headed up to lewisburg to the weis center at bucknell university, found our seats (great seats!....thank you d and r!), and settled in for the show.
and she did not disappoint! shannon and i both noted as we were driving home that we were both smiling ear-to-ear. it was a great night of music - 27 songs! - that had a strong honky-tonk flavor, along with some more folky pieces thrown in along the way. through it all, emmylou was exquisite, her beautiful and unique soprano voice a kind of spiritual sound, whether weaving a tale about her former mentor, or making interesting harmonies with crowell. i sat there like a sponge, just trying to soak up every drop of it, 10 rows away. they were supported by a great group of musicians, including a lead guitarist who was exceedingly good, and a piano/accordion player who was having a blast. they did a wide collection of songs, mostly from the "songwriters from texas" songbook, including crowell, parsons, and van zandt, among others. i wrote down the set list, and fleshed it out with some details for my own purposes, but decided to include here, in case anyone was interested.
all in all, i was one very happy guy, after getting to see one of my musical "heroes" do an amazing show. i am still basking in it.
1. return of the grievous angel (written by gram parsons, recorded by parsons with emmylou harris on 1974's "grievous angel," as well as covers by lucinda williams, counting crows, and others)
2. wheels (written by chris hillman and gram parsons, recorded by the flying burrito brothers on 1969's "gilded palace of sin" and again by emmylou harris on 1975's "elite hotel")
3. pancho and lefty (written by townes van zandt for 1972's "the late great townes van zandt," also recorded by emmylou harris for 1977's "luxury liner," and again, most famously, by willie nelson and merle haggard in 1983 for their duet album "pancho and lefty")
4. earthbound (written by rodney crowell, recorded by crowell for 2003's "fate's right hand")
5. 'til i gain control again (written by rodney crowell, performed by crowell on his self titled album, emmylou harris on "elite hotel;" willie nelson on "greatest hits (and some that will be);" as well as crystal gale)
6. if i needed you (written by townes van zandt; performed by emmylou harris on "cimarron.")
7. one of these days (written by earl montgomery, recorded by emmylou harris for 1976's "elite hotel")
8. red dirt girl (written by emmylou harris, from her album "red dirt girl")
9. the houston kid (written by rodney crowell, from his album "the houston kid")
10. love hurts (written by feliz and boudleaux bryant; recorded by gram parsons, the everly brothers, and roy orbison, among others; this song has long been a staple of emmlou's reportiore, as a kind of reflection on her relationship with gram parsons)
11. luxury liner (written by gram parsons; recorded by emmylou on 1977's "luxury liner")
12 the road (written by emmylou harris, about her relationship with gram parsons, recorded on 2011's "hard bargain", her 26th studio album!)
13. the angels rejoiced last night (written by ira and charlie louvin from their 1959 album "satan is real")
14. long time girl gone by (written by rodney crowell and mary carr from the 2012 album "kin")
15. i know that love is all i need (written by rodney crowell, from his 2001 album, "the houston kid")
16. hanging up my heart (written by hank devito, who was the pedal steel guitarist in emmylou's 'hot band,' and recorded as the title track of sissy spacek's 1983 album)
17. invitation to the blues (written by roger miller, recorded by ray price and reba mcentire, among others, including emmylou harris and rodney crowell on their 2013 album "old yellow moon").
18. spanish dancer (written by patti scialfa, recorded by scialfa and by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on their 2013 album "old yellow moon")
19. chase the feeling (written by kris kristofferson, recorded by kristofferson on his 2006 album "this old road," and by emmylou harris and rodney crowell on "old yellow moon")
20. dreaming my dreams with you (written by allen reynolds, recorded by waylon jennings on his 1975 album "dreaming my dreams," and by collin raye on 1994's "extreme," and by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on 2013's "old yellow moon," among others)
21. back when we were beautiful (written by matrace berg, recorded by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on "old yellow moon.")
22. still learning how to fly (written by rodney crowell, and recorded by him on his 2003 album "fate's right hand")
23. leaving louisiana in the broad daylight (written by rodney crowell and donovan cowart, recorded by emmylou harris on 1978's "quarter moon in a ten cent town" and by the oak ridge boys on 1979's "the oak ridge boys have arrived")
24. i ain't livin' long like this (written by rodney crowell, recorded by crowell on 1978's "ain't livin' long like this," by emmylou harris on 1978's "quarter moon in a ten cent town," and by waylon jennings on 1979's "what goes around comes around," among others)
25. old yellow moon (written by lynn langham and hank devito, recorded by emmylou harris with rodney crowell on "old yellow moon")
------------------------------encore break-------------------------------------------
26. stars on the water (written by rodney crowell from his 1981 album "rodney crowell," and also recorded by george strait on 2001's "the road less traveled" and by jimmy buffet on 1987's "one particular harbor")
27. even cowgirls get the blues (written by rodney crowell, recorded by emmylou harris with dolly parton and linda ronstadt on 1979's "blue kentucky girl")
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