WHILE Emmylou Harris will always be in debt to Gram Parsons for opening her eyes and her heart to the infinite possibilities of modern country music, she has never under-estimated the role Rodney Crowell has played in her musical journey. In the wake of Parsons’ untimely death in 1973, Crowell stepped in to provide Emmylou with breathtakingly beautiful songs like Till I Gain Control Again and Tulsa Queen to wrap his warm baritone voice around her silvery, angelic soprano. These days Emmylou and Crowell are a musical item once again. Following the Grammy award-winning Old Yellow Moon, they have created another gorgeous album with The Travelling Kind, which is full of haunting songs about love, heartbreak, infidelity and loss. Stand-out tracks are the shimmering No Memories Hanging Around and the achingly mournful You Can’t Say We Didn’t Try, both underlining Crowell’s talent for writing the saddest of songs. The uplifting La Danse de la Joie, meanwhile, banishes those lovesick blues in majestic style.
• Emmylou Harris and Rodney Crowell play Sage, Gateshead on July 17.
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