Emmylou Harris, Daniel Lanois Showcase A Timeless 'Wrecking Ball' At The Vic
By Chuck Sudo in Arts & Entertainment on Apr 10, 2014 3:00PM
Photo credit: Chuck Sudo/Chicagoist
Celebrating a milestone anniversary or touring behind a landmark album has become a way for older music acts to make a quick buck these days but Emmylou Harris wouldn’t dive into the deep end of the nostalgia pool at The Vic Tuesday night. Harris is in the midst of a spring tour celebrating the 20th anniversary of her landmark 1995 album Wrecking Ball with the sonic architect behind that career-redefining opus, Daniel Lanois, in tow.
“In 1993 I released an album called Cowgirl’s Prayer that wasn’t very successful,” Harris told a rapt audience near the end of a 90-minute performance. “My record label said I could do whatever I wanted for my next album.” Harris recalled how she placed a phone call to Lanois, who helped shape U2’s sound as well as albums like Peter Gabriel’s So, Bob Dylan’s Oh, Mercy and Willie Nelson’s Teatro and the two were in the living room of her Nashville home within days working on the songs that would eventually make up Wrecking Ball.
Two things struck me during Tuesday night’s show. First, unlike many “classic” albums, Wrecking Ball has a timeless sound that stands up sonically two decades later. Second, much of the swirling, ethereal textures that dominate Wrecking Ball’s sonic template were made by a trio. Lanois called this setup a “triangle” during a 40-minute warmup set where he, bassist Jim Wilson and drummer Steve Nistor deftly blended ambient post-rock sensibility with down and dirty roots music that awakened many of the older people in the audience.
By the time Lanois changed clothes and traded in his skully for a cowboy hat and followed Harris onstage, the audience was waiting with intent for the opening melodies of Wrecking Ball’s opening track, “Where Will I Be.” Harris’ voice, as she showed in her Symphony Center appearance with Rodney Crowell last year, is still in fine form, even if she can’t reach the notes she could during her days backing Gram Parsons or leading her own Hot Band. She’s mastered the ability to turn her limitations of her vocal range into strengths, allowing high notes she would have easily hit a decade ago crack and fade, singing some lyrics in hoarse whispers and allowing a honey-coated, throaty contralto to shine through in a mesmerizing cover of Jimi Hendrix’s “May This Be Love,” augmented by swirling ghosts coaxed by Lanois’ guitar.
The concert also served as a reminder of Harris’ keen knack for finding good material to record. Wrecking Ball featured covers by the likes of Kate and Anna McGarrigle, Gillian Welch, Bob Dylan, Lucinda Williams and Neil Young’s title track. But two of the standouts from the album are “All My Tears,” a haunting spiritual by Julie Miller given a slightly rougher treatment in a live setting, and Steve Earle’s “Goodbye,” a tale of lost love and regret that was already one of my favorite songs when recorded by Earle. In Harris’ and Lanois’ capable hands, “Goodbye” resonated with longing and regret and may be one of a shining example of perfect songwriting. Here Harris let the cracks in her voice convey the sadness of Earle’s lyrics.
For the non-Wrecking Ball portion of the show Harris trotted out “The Maker,” another strong Lanois song that’s been a staple of her solo concerts for years, while Lanois, Wilson and Nistor added their own twists to the Harris classics “Boulder to Birmingham” and “My Songbird.” If you listen closely you may still hear the final notes from last night’s show floating in the wind.