A biography for Emmylou Harrishasn’t been written yet.
“I don't ever worry about whether I'm being true to my country roots. My country roots were adopted. I never worry about what I can do and what I should do. I just do what I want to do.”
“There's a certain grace in accepting what your life is and embracing all the good things that have been - but there's still an expectation of good things to come. Not necessarily what you expected.”
“Country taught me how to sing, it put me on a path. But I was never going to be locked into a formula. I don't want to be considered a current country artist.”
“I was a folk singer who became totally over the edge with country music. I found my voice and style working with Gram Parsons. I learned how to listen to George Jones records and the Louvin Brothers.”
“You get to a certain point in your life where you get closer to the end of your life than the beginning, and it colors your life, in a way.”
“To me acting and singing are worlds apart.”
“I love Chicago, but I didn't think I had enough soul to be a Cubs fan.”
“I'm nowhere with country music. I don't hear much of it, so I shouldn't venture an opinion, but when it finds me, it seems formulaic.”
“I think I can be pretty focused, but as I say, it was more wanting to be the good student, seeing myself as a good student, and also, my parents had expectations. They wouldn't have cared if I got a B or a C or even a D.”
“You meet a lot of people and have a lot of experiences, and they color you and stay with you - but I'm not the grieving widow. Life is much more complicated and interesting and full of zigs and zags than that.”
“I really have shaken hands with where my voice is right now. I think it's got a little deeper; it's got some more grooves in it.”
“You know, I'm a fan of Laurie Anderson. One of my favorite records is 'The Ugly One With the Jewels,' a spoken-word record. It's an extraordinary album.”
“I think musicians are always very generous in promoting anything good they hear. It's just kind of in our nature.”
“I have my own biography of Gram Parsons - I don't want to be part of somebody else's.”
“Yes, I always say that we're a National League band. What I mean is, if you play an instrument, you have to sing. So I always call our drummer up. Even the drummer has to take a turn on the microphone.”
“The only time I ever appeared in the 'Enquirer' was for a piece about people who let their hair grow gray. I guess I'm not much of a wild child.”
“I'm blessed to be able to work at something that I'm good at, and that I love. It's not something I take for granted.”
“I find with records, they become what they're going to become. They take on a power and a direction of their own. Part of making records is to honor that and not try to force it.”
“Somehow, when you think about yourself in old age, you think you're going to be this completely different person that you don't even recognize - because you can't imagine it, you know?”
“Well, I'm just very blessed that I still love my work and I can still work, I still have an audience and I love what I do.”