Eight of our favorite musicians and entertainers were given the chance to pay tribute to the female role models who have influenced them on both a personal and professional level. Miranda Lambert’s main source of inspiration for what it takes to have a fruitful, sustained career is Emmylou Harris. Not only is the well-known artist a major influence on the country star’s songwriting.
Emmylou, John Prine, Guy Clark, David Allan Coe, and the entire era were all introduced to me by my father. You are old enough to identify this experience of “Why do I feel so warm inside?” when you first hear the voice as a child.
Despite the fact that I grew up listening to Emmy, I was unaware of her until I began to really consider a future in music. Even though I knew every word by heart, I didn’t have the same kind of emotional response to songs until I started writing my own when I was around 16 or 17. The opening track was maybe Delbert McClinton’s “Two More Bottles of Wine.” After going through that time, I’ve been thinking, “How do I be a badass and still be feminine?”
Despite hearing the male version, I was more moved by the female singer’s voice. All of that came from Emmy. Your heart literally breaks listening to her perform the great song “Boulder to Birmingham.” I then thought, “This lady is here to party and not take s**t,” as I heard “Two More Bottles of Wine.” It’s the same for me.
It’s difficult for me to distinguish which songs Emmylou wrote from those she didn’t since she always conducts herself with such grace and heart. When I was 18 years old, “Easy From Now On” was another song that I thought would change my life. Because the phrase from that song, “Don’t worry about me, I got a wild card up my sleeve,” hit me so hard, I got a huge wild card tattoo of a queen of hearts on my right arm. Can we just compose an ode to that? I said when we were creating my song “Bluebird.” (2019). The message in that song was the same as the one in “Easy From Here On.”
And I’m not sure whether we’ve ever written a song like that without mentioning Emmy. When creating “I’ll Be Lovin’ You” for [2022’s] Palomino with Luke Dick and Emmylou’s former bandmate Jon Randall, of course, we had been talking about Emmylou and added a reference to “Roses in the Snow.”
I’ve wanted to cover “Red Dirt Girl” since 2000, but I’ve never had the guts to do it. One of those tunes abruptly stopped me in my tracks. In an effort to attract listeners like Loretta Lynn did when she was seventeen, my mother and I drove around radio stations handing out CDs. We were on our way to El Paso or whatever when “Red Dirt Girl” started playing, and my mother sped over. I had never heard a tale as brilliant and fantastic as this one. When I looked her up later, it was evident that the author was just her. As a result, the standard for my songwriting was quickly raised. I believed I wasn’t doing it correctly. Whatever it is, I’m after it. It’s something I’ve been doing for the past 23 years.
I’ve frequently expressed my wish for a career that is like Emmy’s since it never ends. Each of her 26 albums stands out as being uniquely different from the others. Emmy can perform whenever she wants, with anyone she wants, and she can pick the songs she wants to write and cover, so it gives her some independence. It’s incredibly inspiring to see it.
Remembering when you first stoked the flame you first felt at age 17 is beneficial. My pastime is also my work, and vice versa, therefore we occasionally lose our calm. But Emmylou’s music encourages me to reignite that fire.
