Emmylou Harris

Item: Stumble Into Grace
Author: Chris MacIntosh

Stumble Into Grace

(2003)

Reviewed by Chris MacIntosh

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Label Nonesuch RecordsThe Phantom Tollbooth2004

alternative country americana folk rock

From the artwork on the outside to the music inside this is just about a perfect album. Of the eleven songs on the album Emmylou either wrote or had a hand in cowriting every one of them. The young woman who I first heard as a backing vocalist on an old Gram Parsons album once again has fully lived up to her reputation as the reigning queen of modern country music. Along for the songwriting ride are Kate & Anna McGarrigle, Daniel Lanois, Paul Kennerly and album producer Malcolm Burn. Also along for the trip is longtime friend and guitar master, Buddy Miller as well as the king of percussion, Brady Blade. Special mention must be given to the absolutely exquisite photography by Veronique Rolland, her portraits of Emmylou are just amazingly beautiful.

If the outside of the package was all that there was to this album, that alone would be worth the price of admission, but the outside is just the beginning. The older that I get the more I really appreciate excellence in the music that I listen to. Everything about this album cries out creativity. The playing is top notch, the songwriting is great, the production quality is awesome and vocally, Emmylou has never sounded better. In a world where female singers are rated on how much skin that they expose, it is a pleasure to listen to an artist who indeed is an artist and a master at her craft.

5 tocks