Fifty-eight-year-old Gram Parsons acolyte Emmylou Harris has spent a lifetime successfully defying Nashville-country convention. She was a Greenwich Village folkie before signing on as sidewoman to Parsons in 1972, but caught his adventurous spirit; since his death in '73, she's consistently followed her own muse, delivering eclectic Americana material - her own, and that of others - that blurs the lines between country, folk, gospel and rock 'n' roll. She's worked with everyone from Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt to postmodern producer/songwriter Daniel Lanois; she's done a turn as president of the Country Music Association; and while most C&W icons see fit to rest on their laurels and hits after a couple of decades in the business, she was topping herself as recently as 2000, with that year's celebrity guest-studded Red Dirt Girl.
Emmylou Harris w/Buddy Miller, Friday, May 27 @ Tampa Theatre, Tampa. 8 p.m.; $39.50.
-Scott Harrell