Event Details: Rodney Crowell

“Gifted songwriter, creator of classic Americana that trods the vast terrain between Hank Williams & the Rolling Stones, son-in-law & provider of songs to Johnny Cash, author, orchestrator of tremendous live shows: Through it all, Crowell speaks the language of common people with uncommon eloquence.” 

Rodney Crowell, a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and artist, brings poetry and earthy tautness to the soundtrack of people in the cracks. Born in Houston, his songwriting led him to Nashville, where Emmylou Harris heard the young writer's songs. Crowell soon became a potent alchemic property in the sound the queen of hippie country was conjuring. It was only a matter of time until Crowell struck out on his own, producing Rosanne Cash's seminal Seven Year Ache, which marked a new wave in country, and providing hits for Bob Seger, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, and Waylon Jennings, among others. Crowell's own albums established a benchmark of what was possible in the ground between Ray Price, Hank Williams and the Rolling Stones — Johnny Cash and Elvis. Diamonds & Dirt, considered the definitive album of the new traditionalist movement, was country's first album to yield five #1 hits. His acclaimed autobiographical album, The Houston Kid, marked a landmark for Crowell as he broke free from the constraints of writing songs for commercial radio, shifting his focus instead to crafting and recording music that reflected a new chapter in his life and career. Crowell’s memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, was published by Knopf in 2011.

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