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Emmylou brings country to 'U'

Throughout a career spanning three decades and 24 records, Emmylou Harris has always been something of an outsider to the country music establishment.

The singer emerged in the late-'60s and built a reputation as a staunch traditionalist just as mainstream Nashville products began sounding slicker. Initially established as a backup vocalist by her early-'70s work with country-rock icon Gram Parsons on "GP" and "Grievous Angel," and later on Bob Dylan's "Desire," Harris asserted her individual brilliance with her 1975 major-label solo debut, "Pieces of the Sky."

She has since proved herself a fine song writer in her own right (1985's "The Ballad of Sally Rose"), but Harris' real genius lies in interpretation, in her uncanny ability to take the songs of others and make them wholly her own.

With her latest release, "Wrecking Ball," Harris gets daring (even more of an anomaly in Nashville these days), choosing songs from different genres to create a masterpiece that's essential country and essential rock. The fact that the record just received a Grammy (Harris' seventh) for Best Contemporary Folk recording testifies to its lack of musical boundaries; she interprets songs by writers as diverse as Dylan, Jimi Hendrix, Lucinda Williams , Steve Earle and Neil Young.

Producer Daniel Lanois (who also wrote two tracks and played guitar on the album) surrounds Harris' rich, throaty voice with powerful, echoing drums and ringing guitars. "Wrecking Ball" definitely creates a mood, which is exactly what Harris, with Lanois on hand, hopes to do at 8 o'clock tonight at the Michigan Theater. Tickets are $20, $25 and $30 and are available at the Michigan Union Ticket Office or by calling Ticketmaster at (810) 645-6666.