All the Roadrunning

1	Beachcombing 4:14
2	I Dug Up a Diamond 3:38
3	This Is Us 4:39
4	Red Staggerwing 3:03
5	Rollin' On 4:14
6	Love and Happiness 4:22
7	Right Now 3:33
8	Donkey Town 5:42
9	Belle Starr 3:06
10	Beyond My Wildest Dreams 4:25
11	All the Roadrunning 4:49
12	If This Is Goodbye 4:44

Barnes & Noble

This duets collection, which was recorded in fits and starts over the course of six years, affirms it: Good things come to those who wait. Guitar guru Knopfler and honky-tonk angel Harris have long run in the same circles and share a common sensibility about what constitutes lasting listening. The earliest of the tracks captured here -- the Cajun-styled "Red Staggerwing" and the dusty, high-lonesome "Donkey Town" -- date back to Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia sessions, but unlike the work of more ephemeral artists, they could've been recorded last week or a half-century ago. The same can't be said, however, of "Beachcombing," one of several tracks to vividly spotlight Knopfler's deft (and immediately recognizable) finger-picking. That's not a complaint: The song's wistfully panoramic vistas of "wreckage washing up all along the coast" is one of the most moving post-Katrina musings you're likely to hear. All the Roadrunning covers plenty of stylistic ground. The Harris-penned "Love and Happiness" -- a manifestation of motherly love wrapped in a two-stepping Texan melody -- may be the most old-school country song of her long career, while the waltz-time title track conjures up images of a misty Irish hillside. Much like its creators, All the Roadrunning never calls attention to its charms, instead simply laying them out without pretense, allowing the pleasures to seep into the system on their own. David Sprague

All Music Guide

This lush and earthy collaboration between Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris may sound like it rose from an amiable weeklong studio session, but the 12 tracks that make up All the Roadrunning were actually recorded over the span of seven years. The boot-stomping "Red Staggerwing" and the gentle "Donkey Town," both of which were bumped from Knopfler's Sailing to Philadelphia record, give the ex-Dire Straits leader a chance to flex his country muscle, while the wistful title track spotlights the lovely Harris, whose playful demeanor and guarded confidence helps keep Knopfler in check during his sometimes excessive soloing. The two couldn't be more at odds vocally, but Knopfler's laconic drawl is like an easy chair for Harris' fluid pipes, and standout tracks like the 9/11-inspired "This Is Goodbye," the wistful "Beachcombing," and the infectious single "This Is Us" come off as effortless statements of vitality from both camps. Reverend Lee Power