Of all the reverence paid to Emmylou Harris, it’s likely fair to say the folk legend’s most ardent fans are in the D.C. area. Although the 12-time Grammy Award winner was born in Birmingham, Ala., the residents of Metro Washington proudly claim her thanks to her teen years living in Woodbridge. She also spent a brief time in her later years living with her parents in Maryland. It’s likely a fair bet that Harris’ upcoming concert behind her critically acclaimed album “Hard Bargain,” will be filled with hometown supporters.
“We did the whole thing with just three musicians, me being one of them. Jay (Joyce), the producer, and Giles Reeves play everything between them. It’s not a stripped down record though; there’s only one song that’s a little bare bones,” she said, of the album. “I’m basically a slow ballad-y person, but Jay managed to really move the songs up a bit. But they still have the same emotional feel.”
| Onstage |
| Emmylou Harris and her Red Dirt Boys |
| When: 8 p.m. Saturday |
| Where: Wolf Trap Center for the Performing Art, Filene Center, 1645 Trap Road, Vienna |
| Info: $25 – $42; 1-877-WOLFTRAP; wolftrap.org |
The album was released in April as the follow up to Harris’ 2008 release “All I Intended to Be.” Harris wrote 11 of the 13 songs on the new album.
“We did the whole record in about a month, which is quite unusual for me. But I had all the material beforehand. I’d written 11 of the 13 songs and I really wanted to include two more by other writers,” Harris explained. “One of the covers is Ron Sexsmith’s ‘Hard Bargain,’ which I absolutely love. The other is by Jay Joyce, called ‘Cross Yourself.’
The songs on the album are deeply personal. One song ‘Darlin’ Kate,” was written for Harris’ close friend Kate McGarrigle who died last year of cancer. Harris wrote “The Road” as a tribute to her friend Gram Parsons, with whom she worked in the beginning of her career.
What’s especially notable about “Hard Bargain,” is that this is one of only a few albums where Harris wrote the majority of songs. Most of her career has been spent interpreting the songs of other artists including Roy Orbison, Willie Nelson, and Dave Matthews.
“Someone who’s been on the road for 40 years — that’s me,” the New York Times quoted Harris as saying during this year’s SXSW music festival in Austin, Texas. “I have spent a good deal of my life out there, and I have no regrets.”
Now, at last, she’s telling us more about those years.
