There were a blinding amount of stars on the stage at The Masonic in San Francisco on Thursday night.
And they were all there, shining brightly, in honor of the one and only Emmylou Harris.
Joan Baez, Bonnie Raitt, Lucinda Williams, Rodney Crowell, Allison Russell, Steve Earle, Shawn Colvin, Rosanne Cash, Sam Bush, Patty Griffin, Albert Lee, Margo Price, Buddy Miller and, yes, even the star of the evening herself — Harris — all performed during the charming and heartwarming A Tribute to Emmylou Harris & 25 Years of Hardly Strictly Bluegrass show.
The concert — which sold-out within an hour of tickets going on sale — was held in conjunction with the 25th anniversary Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival, which runs through Sunday at Golden Gate Park in San Francisco.
Harris, of course, is set to appear at the festival — just like she has done at each and every one of these events since billionaire philanthropist and mega-music lover Warren Hellman founded it in 2001. She’ll perform her standard festival-closing set at 5:30 p.m. Sunday. Most of the other acts who performed at this tribute will also be performing at the festival. For more information, visit hardlystrictlybluegrass.com.
The concert was a way for HSB organizers to thank the 78-year-old Alabama native for 25 years of perfect attendance — as well as for a wholly satisfying music career that stretches back to the late ’60s.
Kicking off just after 8 p.m., the concert was broken into two sets and ran some three hours. The large cast of stars would take turns at the microphone, usually singing just one number from a batch of tunes that were either written by or associated with Harris. The vocalists shared the stage with a 10-piece house band, made up of artists who have performed with the guest of honor over the decades, and led by longtime Harris collaborator and HSB regular Miller (who served as music director for this event).
Also appearing on the stage were a jacket and banjo belonging to Hellman, which served as a touching tip of the hat to the late great benefactor who adored Harris so dearly.
The concert doubled as a benefit for Harris’ nonprofit dog rescue foundation — Bonaparte’s Retreat (bonapartesretreat.org).
Margo Price — the Nashville country star whose incredible debut, “Midwest Farmer’s Daughter,” launched her into the best new artist category at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards — has the first take the microphone.
“It is such a honor to be here,” Price said. “(Harris) is one of my north stars. I hope to do you proud, Emmy.”
The spotlight next went to Miller, who performed in Harris’ band for years and has continued to be a regular collaborator, as he sang and strummed the guitar on “One of These Days,” a Earl Montgomery composition that Harris took to No. 3 on the country charts back in 1976.
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From there, the stars just kept right on shining in honor of the country music legend, as the full house of fans were treated to efforts from The War & Treaty, Rodney Crowell , Albert “Mr. Telecaster” Lee, Patty Griffin and more.
Steve Earle, another multi-year HSB veteran, was one of many that brought up the connection to the late great Gram Parsons — the “Cosmic American Music” star who first hired Harris and introduced her voice to countless ears via his records. Yet, Earle also mentioned the flipside of that equation, which has played out as Harris’ star has continued to rise.
“There are a lot of people in the world who only know who Gram Parsons was because of Emmylou Harris,” said Earle, who would then combine forces with Miller for a great take on the Parsons-Harris favorite “Sin City” (which was co-written by Parsons and Chris Hillman).
Sam Bush, a two-time inductee to the International Bluegrass Music Hall of Fame (first as member of New Grass Revival and then as a solo artist), was a member of Harris’ Nash Ramblers band — a period of time that the mandolist recalled as “five of the happiest years of my life.” He’d then perform the Bill Monroe-Peter Rowan number “Walls of Time,” which was also included on Harris and the Nash Rambler’s “At the Ryman” — a brilliant work that went on to win a Grammy for best country performance by a duo or group with vocal in 1993.
“Emmy was always very proud that we won that the same year that Milli Vanilli won their Grammy,” remarked Bush, who was either joking or just plain had his dates wrong (Milli infamously won best new artist three years earlier in 1990).
The highlight of the first set — and, really, it wasn’t even close — came when Joan Baez made the very rare concert appearance and delivered a staggeringly beautiful take on “Hickory Wind,” the Parsons-Bob Buchanan co-write (originally found on The Byrds’ “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” album) that both Baez and Harris have recorded.
The star of the evening would finally make her entrance at the start of Set 2, appearing first with Miller for an understated take on the often-overstated “Love Hurts” and then calling out pals Griffin and Colvin for some quartet action.
The four singer-songwriter-guitarists — who were reprising their Three Girls and Their Buddy Tour dates from over 15 years ago — delivered a remarkable version of ‘Love and Happiness,” a Harris original (co-written with Kimmy Rhodes) that she recorded with Mark Knopfler on the 2006 collaborative affair “All the Roadrunning.”
Allison Russell, the Canadian singer-songwriter whose debut album, “Outside Child, was absolutely one of the best albums of 2021, was a commanding presence as she gratefully and gracefully covered the title track to 2000’s beloved “Red Dirt Girl.”
Bonnie Raitt would turn to the very same album, receiving a huge round of applause from the crowd as she rocked her way through “I Don’t Wanna Talk About It Now.”
“I never knew she had a dark side until I heard this song,” Raitt said of Harris.
The legendary blues-rocker was then joined by The War & Treaty for a fine take on “The Wayfaring Stranger,” the folk standard that Harris recorded quite successfully on the 1980 album “Roses in the Snow.”
Lucinda Williams also received a sizable reaction from the crowd as she hit the stage to perform her original “Sweet Old World.
“I was so honored when I wrote this song and Emmylou decided to record it and put in on her album,” Williams remarked.
The parade of legends just kept right on coming as Rosanne Cash appeared to perform the always fun “Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight” (written by Crowell and Donivan Cowart), which was initially recorded by Harris on 1978’s Quarter Moon in a Ten Cent Town” — although the Oakridge Boys would be the ones that would take this tune to No. 1 one year later.
The show closed in typical all-star version, reuniting most of the performers on the stage one more time for a rough-around-the-edges take on the R&B classic “Save the Last Dance” in honor of the great Emmylou Harris.
