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The singer-songwriter talks us through her career – including duetting with Gram Parsons- discovering Gillian Welch – and wondering why today’s country music doesn’t speak to her.
Emmylou Harris is sitting in the middle of her own exhibit – Songbird’s Flight – at the Country Music Hall of Fame in Nashville – surrounded by artefacts from a fascinating and still-thriving career.
There are riches behind the glass displays – including the blonde Gibson guitar given to her by Gram Parsons and a handwritten note that the teenage Harris sent to the editor of a folk music journal.
‘It’s all a little overwhelming’ Harris says – looking around.
‘Though a lot of this stuff was still in my closet.
I’m terrible at giving stuff away’.
Harris – now 71 – has become one of music’s most revered voices – releasing close to 30 albums and collaborating with everyone from Dolly Parton to Bright Eyes across her 50-year career.
She has written her own material and become one of America’s finest interpreters of song.
‘For me it’s always about the lyrics’ she says as she picks out her favourite tracks from her back catalogue.
‘When I write – it’s the lyrics first.
But I much prefer the pre-made-up song’.
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