Lenox — Emmylou Harris will appear at Tanglewood with Graham Nash on July 29, 48 years after her first performance there. Tickets for this show go on sale February 18 at 10 a.m.
While much has changed for Harris since 1977, one thing has not: the enduring admiration of critics, fellow musicians, and fans. All seem to agree that her singing hovers between Earth and heaven and that her ability to select the perfect song—whether penned by herself or others—is uncanny. They always sound as if they were written just for her. Unlike many artists who pick songs based on hit potential, Harris chooses music based on its deep emotional resonance.
Bob Dylan, Gram Parsons, Mark Knopfler, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and Willie Nelson are just a few of the pop luminaries who have collaborated with Harris. (It is a long list.)
In 1976, Harris scored a number four hit on the Billboard country chart with her single “If I Could Only Win Your Love,” a song written and recorded 17 years earlier by The Louvin Brothers. Along with Bill Monroe, Ricky Skaggs, and several others, The Louvin Brothers pioneered the High Lonesome Sound—a major ingredient in Harris’ own distinctive vocal style. (You can hear the magic even in her background vocal performances.) That same year, she won the first of her 12 Grammys, ultimately receiving a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 2008. Later that same year, she was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
A concert with Emmylou Harris is a music lesson that takes you back in time. Her repertoire encompasses the greatest songs of country, folk, and Americana, along with her own hits. Expect to hear, at the very least, “Boulder to Birmingham,” “Roses in the Snow,” “Orphan Girl,” “Too Far Gone,” “Wayfaring Stranger,” and “Two More Bottles of Wine.” And she won’t leave the stage without paying tribute to her mentor, Gram Parsons, with at least one of his songs.
In 2004, Harris founded Bonaparte’s Retreat, a dog rescue organization named after her beloved dog, Bonaparte. Based in Nashville, Tenn., it rescues senior and at-risk dogs from the Metro Nashville Animal Care and Control facility and finds homes for them.
Opening for Harris on July 29 will be Graham Nash, known after his stint with the Hollies as one third of the folk-rock supergroup Crosby, Stills, & Nash (later Crosby, Stills, Nash, & Young). The band’s albums, including “DĂ©jĂ Vu” (1970), became iconic. While a member of that group, Nash wrote several well-known songs, including “Teach Your Children Well,” “Our House,” “Marrakesh Express,” and “Just a Song Before I Go.”
Nash has twice been inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame—as a member of the Hollies (2010) and as a member of Crosby, Stills & Nash (1997). He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2010 Birthday Honours List for services to music and to charity. He has been actively involved in various charitable and humanitarian efforts, supporting causes related to human rights, environmental activism, anti-nuclear advocacy, and arts education.
