Red Dirt Girl

1	The Pearl / Buddy Miller 5:02
2	Michelangelo / Malcolm Burn 5:14
3	I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now / Darryl Johnson 4:47
4	Tragedy 4:24
5	Red Dirt Girl / Buddy Miller 4:19
6	My Baby Needs a Shepherd / Darryl Johnson 4:39
7	Bang the Drum Slowly / Darryl Johnson 4:51
8	J'Ai Fait Tout / Darryl Johnson 5:31
9	One Big Love / Buddy Miller 4:33
10	Hour of Gold / Darryl Johnson 5:00
11	My Antonia / Buddy Miller 3:43
12	Boy from Tupelo / Julie Miller 3:48

Barnes & Noble

After building a legendary three-decade career with her distinctive interpretations of material by the most thoughtful songwriters of country, folk, and pop, seminal alt-country icon Emmylou Harris set herself a new challenge: She decided to write the songs herself. The result is Red Dirt Girl, a stunning collection of self-penned tunes that ranks with Harris's best work. The album's title track is a soulful evocation of the south, the 1960s, and the collisions between dreams and reality. "Michelangelo" paints a vivid portrait of a searcher framed in a haunting melody and evocative images of pain and redemption, while "Bang the Drum Slowly" is a stately, wistful elegy to Harris's late father and the questions she never asked him. The artist bring things full circle on the album's closing cut, "Boy from Tupelo," which includes lyrical and melodic references to her 1985 tune "Sweetheart of the Rodeo." The 12-song disc's lone cover is Patty Griffin's "One Big Love," whose danceable pop groove meshes surprisingly well with the album's more bittersweet material. Griffin also makes a guest appearance on the album, along with Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Buddy and Julie Miller, and Dave Matthews, who sings a poignant duet with Emmylou on "My Antonia." Kerry Dexter

All Music Guide

On her 29th album, Emmylou Harris continues the evolution from innocent folkie to present day renaissance woman. Alternately sparse and lush, Red Dirt Girl can be seen as a companion piece to 1995's Wrecking Ball with the production credits going to Malcom Burn (who previously worked with Harris engineering and mixing Wrecking Ball). Here, drum loops and middle eastern melodies nestle in comfortably next to warm guitar work and Harris' gently wavering voice. Her extensive guest work on dozens and dozens of recent releases (showing up on albums by everyone from Guy Clark to Midnight Oil) pays off with great help from Bruce Springsteen, Patti Scialfa, Buddy and Julie Miller, Guy Clark, Kate McGarrigle, and even alt-rock upstarts Dave Matthews and Luscious Jackson's Jill Cunniff. The diverse production only adds to Harris' earthy songwriting, adding interest to what could otherwise be lulls during the more subdued songs, and really showcases the understated lyrics that the singer has slowly become recognized for. The teary dirge "Bang the Drum Slowly" written for her father (who died in 1993) wrings with emotion and ethereal atmosphere, while "J'ai Fait Tout" (co-written with Cunniff) is an upbeat and jangly pop song, complete with hip-shakin' tambourine. While this is a big departure from her rootsy '70s releases like Blue Kentucky Girl and Roses in the Snow, it still burns with an honest intensity and clear voice that Harris is known for 20 years later. Zac Johnson

Entertainment Weekly

Full of love in all its aching permutations ­ unrealized, abandoned, unspoken ­ Girl shimmers with poetic imagery and soul. Beth Johnson