I first saw Emmylou in the late 70s when she was the warm up act for Jimmy Buffet. The buzz I'd heard about her was true. Her style made country music reached well beyond the traditional country & western audience. With the long brunette hair, she seemed vulnerable and determined to succeed.
When I saw her again, in the late eighties, she'd become one of the most respected and established country women. She was thoroughly in charge. The Hot Band was sharp but definitely remained in the background.
Last night, I saw her at Mystic Lake Casino. She's has one of the few acts that can fill an auditorium on a grey and cloudy Sunday evening. Her songs are as serious as ever, filled with heartbreak and loss. But she's loosened up, no longer as world weary earnest as she once was.
She shared the stage with Buddy Miller who was as sharp as ever. Having survived a triple bypass, he's chatty, self-reflective, continually 'winking' at the audience to let all know that even if the songs are serious, we've come together to have some fun at the country show. His guitar pickin' is the instrumental highlight of the show. Respectfully always slightly in the background he shares the stage with Emmylou and helps make her shine.
Emmylou has a large catalog from which to choose her playlist. Her set was richer and more well-balanced than the earlier concerts I'd seen. She allowed the Red Dirt Boys to shine and they did. I'd hoped that she would play more of the tunes that made her famous, but her maturity shows as she sings about and to both her new granddaughter, Prudence, and her dearly departed father.
Far from an oldies performance, her show remains fresh. "Two More Bottles of Wine" was fresh, but distant. She recalls the longing, dreams, and heartbreaks of trying to break into the music business, but knows that was a long, long time ago.
A long, long time ago, I listened to "From Boulder to Birmingham' on a cassette that stretched thin from multiple plays riding down 95 on the way to Richmond, VA during what were tumultuous and unforgettable times. BtoB is her defining song, so I was disappointed that it wasn't sung last night. I sensed many other folks were as disappointed. Of course, that's a privilege an entertainer earns when she stays fresh and never becomes an oldies act.