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Interview With Emmylou Harris

Aired September 23, 2003 - 15:48   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.


MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After breaking new ground with her acclaimed "Red Dirt Girl," Emmylou Harris is penning a new chapter in her musical history.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Her new CD is called "Stumble Into Grace" and includes some beautiful new ballads. Can this be right? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in haunted harmonies?

Well Emmylou Harris joins us live from New York to talk about her new adventure. Great to see you.

EMMYLOU HARRIS, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Oh, it's great to be here.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about your inspiration for this latest album.

HARRIS: Well, my record company said I needed to put out another record.

O'BRIEN: That's inspiration. You needed some scrill.

HARRIS: Need some scrill. So deadlines are good for artists. Otherwise, they'd probably sit around and work on a record for ten years and never think we should put it out.

PHILLIPS: Tell us about this one. Tell us about "Stumble Into Grace." You can think of a lot of definitions when you think about that word, a beautiful word, a spiritual word in many ways.

HARRIS: Well, it can have a lot of meanings for a lot of different people, I think. And I like phrases that where you can kind of fill in your own blanks. Somehow it felt right, it felt resonant to represent the rest of the songs. And just kind of rolled off the tongue in a nice way. So I decided to call it "Stumble Into Grace."

O'BRIEN: Now you like dark songs. Is that accurate to say? Why is that?

HARRIS: Because the dark songs are usually more interesting and have more layers to them. They inspire more feeling in you I think. For a singer, that's what you want. And ultimately, sad songs make you feel good.

O'BRIEN: Really? That's a little bit of irony there. Explain that one.

HARRIS: Well, I think that you have to -- you're going to feel bad anyway. You might as well sing about it.

PHILLIPS: You know what? More people will relate to you, Emmylou, I think.

Well there's a number of other things that you are inspired by. I mean not only sitting down and writing music, but we're talking about your connection to Johnny Cash, someone who has influenced so many people in a time where we just lost him recently. Tell us about your relationship with him and how he influenced you.

HARRIS: Well of course as an artist and from the first album, you knew that he was one of the great voices as well. The songs he wrote, the songs he chose to sing kind of set a standard. Of course, nobody will ever come close to it.

But -- and then when you got to know him as a person, this man who seemed larger than life on vinyl or in the artistic world, he was larger than life also when you met him. But his humanness, his sense of humor, his warmth, his generosity, he was so very real and yet at the same time not like anyone else. They won't see his life very soon, if ever.

O'BRIEN: One of the songs in this album is dedicated and inspired by June Carter Cash. Can we just listen to that clip for just a minute? Then I want to ask you a question about it. Queue that up.

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: June Carter Cash was on death's doorstep when you were inspired for that song. Tell us that story.

HARRIS: Well, I had gotten the news that she was gravely ill and was not expected to live, which was a real shock for all of us who had seen June sort of pull John back from really the brink of death over the last ten years. He was very ill so many times. And yet would come back with this just renewed strength, rising from the ashes.

And I think we all felt June had a lot to do with it, in addition to John's innate lust for life and his strength, both physically and spiritually as a person. But June I think was the one who willed him back. Their great love for each other, their wonderful relationship.

And so it was a shock to think that she could actually go first, for one thing. And then the strength of her personality and what a wonderful person she was, the fact that she could actually be gone from our presence, and the song -- I guess it just came out of thinking about those things, feeling a sense of loss, feeling for John and losing June as a presence in my life.

So it was not something that I sat down to write. It just seemed to come unbiddened, really.

PHILLIPS: Emmylou, I'll use your expression. Willed you back. Who is someone who has willed you back and shown you a lot of love during the tough times? During the dark side, I guess? HARRIS: Well, I mean I have an extraordinary family. And including my daughters. My mother is still a very strong presence in my life and all my -- my brother and his children and all my extended family. My friends. I have extraordinary friends.

So that surrounding yourself with people like that who really care about you and that you love so much is a reason to get up in the morning really and carry on.

PHILLIPS: Amen.

O'BRIEN: Good words. The new album is "Stumble Into Grace." The artist is Emmylou Harris, now in three decades. Hard to believe. You look like a million bucks, Emmylou. Three decades of recording.

HARRIS: Thank you. I'll take the money instead.

O'BRIEN: Album number 26.

PHILLIPS: Buy her album. We're plugging it right now.

O'BRIEN: We're glad you needed the scrill because we're enjoying it very much.

HARRIS: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Emmylou.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com







Aired September 23, 2003 - 15:48   ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: After breaking new ground with her acclaimed "Red Dirt Girl," Emmylou Harris is penning a new chapter in her musical history.
KYRA PHILLIPS, CNN ANCHOR: Her new CD is called "Stumble Into Grace" and includes some beautiful new ballads. Can this be right? (UNINTELLIGIBLE) in haunted harmonies?

Well Emmylou Harris joins us live from New York to talk about her new adventure. Great to see you.

EMMYLOU HARRIS, SINGER/SONGWRITER: Oh, it's great to be here.

O'BRIEN: Tell us about your inspiration for this latest album.

HARRIS: Well, my record company said I needed to put out another record.

O'BRIEN: That's inspiration. You needed some scrill.

HARRIS: Need some scrill. So deadlines are good for artists. Otherwise, they'd probably sit around and work on a record for ten years and never think we should put it out.

PHILLIPS: Tell us about this one. Tell us about "Stumble Into Grace." You can think of a lot of definitions when you think about that word, a beautiful word, a spiritual word in many ways.

HARRIS: Well, it can have a lot of meanings for a lot of different people, I think. And I like phrases that where you can kind of fill in your own blanks. Somehow it felt right, it felt resonant to represent the rest of the songs. And just kind of rolled off the tongue in a nice way. So I decided to call it "Stumble Into Grace."

O'BRIEN: Now you like dark songs. Is that accurate to say? Why is that?

HARRIS: Because the dark songs are usually more interesting and have more layers to them. They inspire more feeling in you I think. For a singer, that's what you want. And ultimately, sad songs make you feel good.

O'BRIEN: Really? That's a little bit of irony there. Explain that one.

HARRIS: Well, I think that you have to -- you're going to feel bad anyway. You might as well sing about it.

PHILLIPS: You know what? More people will relate to you, Emmylou, I think.

Well there's a number of other things that you are inspired by. I mean not only sitting down and writing music, but we're talking about your connection to Johnny Cash, someone who has influenced so many people in a time where we just lost him recently. Tell us about your relationship with him and how he influenced you.

HARRIS: Well of course as an artist and from the first album, you knew that he was one of the great voices as well. The songs he wrote, the songs he chose to sing kind of set a standard. Of course, nobody will ever come close to it.

But -- and then when you got to know him as a person, this man who seemed larger than life on vinyl or in the artistic world, he was larger than life also when you met him. But his humanness, his sense of humor, his warmth, his generosity, he was so very real and yet at the same time not like anyone else. They won't see his life very soon, if ever.

O'BRIEN: One of the songs in this album is dedicated and inspired by June Carter Cash. Can we just listen to that clip for just a minute? Then I want to ask you a question about it. Queue that up.

(MUSIC)

O'BRIEN: June Carter Cash was on death's doorstep when you were inspired for that song. Tell us that story.

HARRIS: Well, I had gotten the news that she was gravely ill and was not expected to live, which was a real shock for all of us who had seen June sort of pull John back from really the brink of death over the last ten years. He was very ill so many times. And yet would come back with this just renewed strength, rising from the ashes.

And I think we all felt June had a lot to do with it, in addition to John's innate lust for life and his strength, both physically and spiritually as a person. But June I think was the one who willed him back. Their great love for each other, their wonderful relationship.

And so it was a shock to think that she could actually go first, for one thing. And then the strength of her personality and what a wonderful person she was, the fact that she could actually be gone from our presence, and the song -- I guess it just came out of thinking about those things, feeling a sense of loss, feeling for John and losing June as a presence in my life.

So it was not something that I sat down to write. It just seemed to come unbiddened, really.

PHILLIPS: Emmylou, I'll use your expression. Willed you back. Who is someone who has willed you back and shown you a lot of love during the tough times? During the dark side, I guess? HARRIS: Well, I mean I have an extraordinary family. And including my daughters. My mother is still a very strong presence in my life and all my -- my brother and his children and all my extended family. My friends. I have extraordinary friends.

So that surrounding yourself with people like that who really care about you and that you love so much is a reason to get up in the morning really and carry on.

PHILLIPS: Amen.

O'BRIEN: Good words. The new album is "Stumble Into Grace." The artist is Emmylou Harris, now in three decades. Hard to believe. You look like a million bucks, Emmylou. Three decades of recording.

HARRIS: Thank you. I'll take the money instead.

O'BRIEN: Album number 26.

PHILLIPS: Buy her album. We're plugging it right now.

O'BRIEN: We're glad you needed the scrill because we're enjoying it very much.

HARRIS: Thanks.

PHILLIPS: Thanks, Emmylou.

TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com