How Sweet It Was

There are some things you just can't pass up. For years I'd been telling myself that I have to go see Emmylou Harris play live. Is there a more immediately identifiable voice in the world? Well, maybe a few, but none as beautiful or as awe-inspiring. And I've also been dying to see Gillian Welch since I first started listening to her records a few years ago. I was bummed that the Bluesfest got canceled this summer, because for me, she was the primary attraction. So when I saw tickets were going on sale for the Sweet Harmony Traveling Revue, with both Emmylou and Gillian, I wasn't about to miss it. Musical manna from heaven.

I took Thursday and Friday off, rounded up my friends Heather and Greg, who were also jazzed about the show, and went down to my old stomping grounds, Detroit/Windsor, to catch the tour stop at the Meadowbrook music festival. We stayed at my friend Janet's place in Windsor, and she also came to the show.

The show was everything I had hoped it would be and more. Meadowbrook is an outdoor amphitheatre on the grounds of Oakland University in Rochester, MI, about 45 minutes on the other side of Detroit. As a venue, it's smaller and cozier than most outdoor sheds. It has kind of a folky vibe to it. We had seats under the canopy, so we were okay in case it rained, but that was not going to be a concern. It was a beautifully warm night, just perfect for this kind of concert.

Tickets said the show was at 7:30, so we figured we'd be okay getting there sometime between then and 8:00. We arrived at about 7:50, and Emmylou was already onstage! As we walked from the parking field to our seats we could hear her singing "To Know Him Is To Love Him", with at least one other female voice, which was probably Patty Griffin, although it's possible Gillian was in there as well (The sound was a bit muffled at that distance and over the lip of a hill). I heard her say something like "How are you Detroit?", so I assumed this must have been her first song of the evening, second at best.

I stopped just long enough to visit the mensroom and to pick up a $7 jug of beer (that's about $12 CDN - you can almost buy a 12-pack for that!) As I got to the seats, Emmylou was just finishing the marvelous Daniel Lanois song "Blackhawk". What a thrill to hear that voice live in front of me for the first time! She encapsulates everything that's right about beautiful singing: strength, nuance, delicacy, emotion, reserve, poise, abandon, tradition, individuality... Just so beautiful.

I may be forgetting a few songs from her mini-set, but I know she also did "Orphan Girl", joined by Miss Gillian of course, and I'm pretty sure she also did "My Antonia". And there's another thrill: seeing Emmylou and Gillian Welch singing together. Man, how do you top that?

I was soon to find out.

But that was the template for the Revue. Each of the main artists would do a mini-set, often joined by the others in various configurations. It was very fluid.

I'm not sure of the exact order of things, but I think Buddy Miller's set followed Emmylou's. I don't know his stuff very well, but I was quite impressed with his voice. Very distinctive. The highlight of his set came when he was joined by Gillian and David Rawlings for a few numbers, with Rawlings on electric guitar and Gillian on bass!. They were rocking out and having a good ol' time! Great stuff.

It's almost pointless to talk about highlights, there were so many wonderful moments. At some point the stage lights came down, while Emmylou, Gillian and Patty Griffin gathered around one mic under a lone, overhead spotlight to sing the a cappella gem from the "O Brother" soundtrack, "Didn't Leave Nobody But The Baby". Absolutely spellbinding.

Patty Griffin's mini-set was next, I think. I've only heard a few of her songs, and only recently. She possesses a marvelous voice. For me, the highlight of her set was her haunting, solo rendition of Springsteen's "Stolen Car" and her closing number, "Mary", which she wrote for her grandmother. For this one, Emmylou and Gillian stood unassumingly on either side and a few feet back of Patty, like any old back-up singers. Their three voices closed out the song, lifting up the grandmother's name -- homage, veneration, benediction.

Gillian Welch's and David Rawlings' set was simply amazing. They started with "I Wanna Play That Rock And Roll", then into "Elvis Presley Blues". We were remarking afterwards how well their voices blend together. There were times when I thought Rawlings' mic may have been off, but when I listened closer, there he was, just blending in as if there were one voice. Gillian broke out the banjo for a few songs, and I think they did "I Had A Real Good Mother", "No One Knows My Name" and "One Little Song", although I may be imagining one of these, possibly heard it in the car on the way over to the show. They also did another song that I didn't recognize; maybe a song from Soul Journey that I'm not so familiar with.

Another thing I had been looking forward to was bearing witness to David Rawlings' guitar playing. This man is an amazing guitarist. There's something about his playing, as if he's almost colouring outside the lines, but not quite. Sort of like what Marc Ribot is to avant pop/jazz, David Rawlings is to roots moderne. He's not in charge of his playing; he just lets it come through and follows where it leads him. It plays him. The last song of their set was "Revelator", and it was just incredible. I think I have bruises on my chin from where my jaw hit the floor during some of his solos.

I think they closed out the main set with an ensemble rendition of "I'll Fly Away". For the first encore, again with the whole ensemble, David Rawlings strapped on a 12-string Rickenbacker, and following a plea from Emmylou that everyone get registered to vote, they launched into a note-perfect intro to the Byrds' version of "Turn Turn Turn". That was followed by what was probably the best rendition of "The Weight" that I had ever heard in person.

They left the stage to another standing ovation (there had been several throughout the evening). I noticed the guitar tech removing one of Emmylou's guitars, and replacing it with her big jumbo Gibson acoustic, so I knew there would be another encore. And something about the way he placed that guitar on its stand at the front of the stage facing Emmylou's mic stand made me think...Gram Parsons. There was just something reverential and near-iconic about the way the roadie placed that guitar on the stage.

They came back out, and Emmylou mentioned that even though it had been such a fun and wonderful experience traveling and playing with these other artists, and how grateful she was to them for doing it, none of it would have been possible for her if it hadn't been for Gram Parsons. Then they closed the book on the evening with Parsons' prayer "In My Hour Of Darkness".

An incredible evening of beautiful music.