Artist: Emmylou Harris
Album: Heartaches and Highways: The Very Best of Emmylou Harris
Label: Rhino
Tracks: 20
Review By: Jacob Gehman

Emmylou Harris has, perhaps, one of the greatest voices ever. It’s one of those voices that makes her genre choice a shame in some respects. Country doesn’t limit Emmylou Harris, but it does severely limit her potential fan base. If you’re not quite sure what I mean by that, remember how many times you’ve heard (or even said yourself) that “I like all kinds of music. Well, except country.”

The bias pop culture has against country is understandable. After all, the pop country that we get fed on country radio or Country Music Television is all that most people get exposed to. Even the indie kids who claim to love Johnny Cash and enjoy some country influence in their indie rock ala Bright Eyes or Lucero get a bit squeamish at the idea of standing in front of a music department’s country section.

This is a shame because Emmylou Harris is what they’ve been looking for all these years. She has released more albums than I can confidently count and her last few CDs have proved that, like a fine wine, certain musicians get better with age.

This best-of spans Harris’ entire career and is a great overview of what she’s accomplished. She selected the tracks herself and the liner notes contain many of her thoughts and quotes on what she has done over the years. So if you are unfamiliar with the legendary Emmylou Harris, “Heartaches and Highways” is a beautiful place to start.