Red Dirt Girl is the nineteenth studio album by American country artist Emmylou Harris, released on September 12, 2000 by Nonesuch Records. The album was a significant departure for Harris, as eleven of the twelve tracks were written or co-written by her. At the time, she was best known for covering other songwriters' work. Prior to this album, only two of Harris' LPs had more than two of her own compositions (Gliding Bird in 1969, and The Ballad of Sally Rose in 1985). Her next album, Stumble into Grace, was also written by Harris. The album contains "Bang the Drum Slowly", a song Guy Clark helped Harris write as an elegy for her father. The album peaked at number 3 on the Billboard country album charts and won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Folk Album in 2001.

Reception

The album was very positively received, being declared "spellbinding" by The Guardian., while the New York Times wrote: "Miss Harris has found herself. The album was included in the book 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die, which describes it thus: ''“drum loops and middle eastern melodies nestle in comfortably next to warm guitar work and Harris' gently wavering voice... a big departure from her rootsy '70s releases.”''

Track listing

Personnel

1. "The Pearl"
2. "Michelangelo"
3. "I Don't Wanna Talk About It Now"
4. "Tragedy"
5. "Red Dirt Girl"
6. "My Baby Needs A Shepherd"
7. "Bang The Drum Slowly"
8. "J'Ai Fait Tout"
9. "One Big Love"
10. "Hour Of Gold"
11. "My Antonia"
12. "Boy From Tupelo"

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

Release history