Stumble Into Grace

Personnel includes: Emmylou Harris (vocals, guitar, 6-string bass guitar); Kate McGarrigle (acoustic guitar, accordion, background vocals); Tony Hall (acoustic guitar, bass); Malcolm Burn (electric guitar, harmonica, whistles, piano, Fender Rhodes, piano, bass, percussion); Ethan Johns, Buddy Miller (electric guitar); Daniel Lanois (pedal steel guitar, background vocals); Brady Blade (drums, percussion, background vocals); Daryl Johnson (percussion, background vocals); Julie Miller, Linda Ronstadt, Jane Siberry, Anna McGarrigle, Gillian Welch, Jill Cunniff (background vocals).
Recorded at Le Maison Bleu Studio, Kingston, New York; Masterlink Studio, Sound Emporium and Ocean Way Studio, Nashville, Tennessee between February and June 2003.
STUMBLE INTO GRACE was nominated for the 2004 Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album.
Over three decades into a highly successful career as an interpreter of other writers' material, Emmylou Harris beats the odds by releasing her second consecutive album of original compositions. She's had plenty of time to learn from the best, and the lessons gained from digging into the work of writers like Gram Parsons, Leonard Cohen, and Townes Van Zandt can be felt here, even if she can't be expected to equal their mastery. She works again with members of the Spyboy band that helped reinvent Harris's sound on WRECKING BALL, but as on RED DIRT GIRL, the churning, rhythmic feel of the former is underplayed in favor of a gentler, more folkish approach.
Years ago, few could have guessed that one of Harris's most valuable songwriting partners would be a former member of NYC funk-rockers Luscious Jackson, but Jill Cunniff is a worthy weapon in STUMBLE INTO GRACE's arsenal, co-writing the trenchant "Time in Babylon." Other esteemed writing partners include Daniel Lanois, ex-husband Paul Kennerly, and Kate & Anna McGarrigle, but this ultimately feels like a very personal statement straight from the heart of this seasoned artist.