Rodney Crowell at City Winery

Rodney Crowell was born into a musical family in Crosby, Texas, with one grandfather being a church choir leader, the other playing bluegrass on banjo, his grandmother playing guitar, and his father singing semi-professionally at bars and honky tonks. At age 11, he started playing drums in his father's band, and in his teen years, he played in garage rock bands in Houston, Texas. In 1972 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, and worked as a songwriter. Emmylou Harris recorded one of Crowell's songs and invited him to play rhythm guitar in her backing band, the Hot Band; Crowell played in Harris' band for three years. Johnny Cash, Waylon Jennings, the Oak Ridge Boys, Jerry Reed, Rosanne Cash, Bob Seger, Crystal Gayle and others recorded his songs in the meantime. Crowell then launched a solo deal in 1978, enjoying mainstream popularity in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He has won two Grammy Awards, six Americana Music Awards, and two Academy of Country Music Awards. Crowell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 and the Music City Walk of Fame in 2007. In 2019, Crowell received the Poet's Award from the Academy of Country Music for his achievements in songwriting. Crowell will release his 19th studio album, Texas, on August 15, 2019. Crowell currently is based south of Nashville.

Rodney Crowell kept his performance simple tonight at City Winery, strumming his acoustic guitar and plainly singing 21 of his well-crafted songs from across 40 years of recordings, accompanied by just two additional musicians on acoustic guitar, mandolin and violin. Crowell did not focus exclusively on the better known songs; the set did not include several number one country hits ("It's Such a Small World", "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried", "Above and Beyond"). The acoustic setting also did not allow for "Ain't Living Long Like This," an early song that rocks hard when he performs with a full band. Instead, most of the songs he performed were recorded after his peak on the record charts, and they were equally strong compositions, given a somber treatment with scaled-down arrangements. These acoustic renditions, performed with so little glitz, allowed for the beauty of his lyrics to shine. Crowell demonstrated that he is more of a gifted writer than a country- rocking entertainer.

Setlist:

1. Glasgow Girl
2. Earthbound
3. Stuff That Works (Guy Clark cover)
4. Come Back Baby (Walter Davis cover)
5. Frankie Please
6. East Houston Blues
7. What Kind of Love
8. Jewel of the South
9. Reckless
10. It Ain't Over Yet
11. Forgive Me Annabelle
12. Dancin' Circles Round the Sun (Epictetus Speaks)
13. After All This Time
14. She's Crazy for Leavin'
15. I Wish It Would Rain
16. Wandering Boy
17. Anything but Tame
18. Famous Last Words of a Fool in Love
19. Leaving Louisiana in the Broad Daylight
20. 'Til I Gain Control Again
21. The Flyboy & the Kid