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Did not know, until this NYTimes interview, that Emmylou Harris (& Rodney Crowell) have a new record out:
In her four-decade career, Emmylou Harris has earned a dozen Grammy Awards and a spot in the Country Music Hall of Fame. Her long list of collaborators includes Gram Parsons, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison, George Jones, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt and Rodney Crowell, an old friend and former band mate with whom she has just released a duets album, “Old Yellow Moon.”…
The passage of time is a recurring motif on your new album. Did you and Rodney have that theme in mind when you were choosing material or did it happen organically?
It was definitely organic, because we’ve been talking about making this record from the time we became friends in 1974. We never had a concept, except the fact that we love to sing together and love the same kind of songs. As we started picking material, it became obvious that we weren’t going to do these lovey-dovey sorts of songs that perhaps might have appealed to us when we were younger.
And yet you’ve returned to songs from both of your pasts. Why do some retain their appeal while others don’t, and how does your interpretation of a song change over time?
It happens so naturally, without really thinking about it, just like aging. We age and our bodies age and our voices age and I think our souls age. A really good set of lyrics can age with you. There’s just a certain intrinsic truth to certain songs. “Dreaming My Dreams” takes on a more serious weight somehow at this point in our lives, and the same thing with “Old Yellow Moon,” which kind of sums up the record and our friendship…
Open Thread: Emmylou Harris, Ever & AlwaysPost + Comments (35)