Emmylou Harris: Elite Hotel

AFTER JUST one album (two and a half if you count her collaborations with Gram Parsons a couple of years back) Emmylou Harris' name is already being uttered with such frequency and reverence that stardom – that swallow you up and spit you out, keep your fingers crossed she keeps her feet on the ground kind of stardom – is almost de facto. Who could be so churlish as to begrudge it of her if that's what she wants? Her repertoire is a cluster of country music jewels, mimed with taste and on obvious grasp of the finer points of the genre, and polished and paraded with style, sensitivity and grace. I've never heard an angel. Who could doubt that Emmylou sings like one. What is more, she has achieved a credible synthesis of Nashville sensibilities and LA Style.