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In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985
384 pages, Paperback
Published December 10, 2024
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
June 14, 2026
I enjoyed that. It’s a pretty exhaustive account of the kind of new and yet neo-traditionalist music made by people like Emmylou Harris, Roseann Cash, Rodney Crowell, and Ricky Skaggs from the mid 1970s to the mid-1980s. For me, the most interesting parts were the focus on how these songs were produced, which were generally different from how country music had been produced. And I learned more about these artists, who are some of my favorites.
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September 13, 2025In-Law Country is the name given by music critic Geoffrey Himes to the movement that deconstructed country music of the 1940s and 1950s, pulled out the most consequential threads, and reconstructed a new kind of country music. Himes’s thesis is that this new brand of country music largely abandoned the honky-tonk themes of cheatin’ and drinkin’ and turned to more mature issues involving marriage, art, and aging.
The fascinating dimension of all this, and the reason for the title, is that many of the pioneers and practitioners of In-Law Country were related to, married to, or lived in the same house with each other. Himes organizes the chapters around significant In-Law Country songs and the situations that created them, and the same people keep walking through each chapter’s scenes.
For example, The Carter Family is justifiably credited with being the first country music stars, along with Jimmie Rodgers. Maybelle Carter’s daughter June was first married to country star Carl Smith. Their daughter Carlene Carter became a musician whose version of country music was produced by her rocker husband Nick Lowe. June Carter later married country legend Johnny Cash. Rosanne Cash, his daughter from his first marriage, became one of the most important artists of In-Law Country. Rosanne’s producer husband Rodney Crowell had made his claim to fame as a band leader and harmony singer for Emmylou Harris before becoming an important country artist in his own right. Other members of Emmylou’s band at various times included Ricky Skaggs, who first found success as a duet partner with Keith Whitley (who married singer Lorrie Morgan, daughter of 1950s country star George Morgan) and later enjoyed his own solo success when he figured out how to synthesize bluegrass and radio-friendly country music; Emory Gordy, who married and produced Patty Loveless; and James Burton, the legendary guitar player from Elvis Presley’s touring band who had also played on early Ricky Nelson hits. These connections just go on and on. Wrapped around all of it is the pervasive influence of Guy Clark and Gram Parsons.
I maybe just made this sound like People magazine or even the National Enquirer, but In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985 reads more like literate criticism as Himes dissects the relevant songs and albums that expanded the In-Law Country movement while giving readers plenty to ponder about the musicians’ personal and professional lives.
The fascinating dimension of all this, and the reason for the title, is that many of the pioneers and practitioners of In-Law Country were related to, married to, or lived in the same house with each other. Himes organizes the chapters around significant In-Law Country songs and the situations that created them, and the same people keep walking through each chapter’s scenes.
For example, The Carter Family is justifiably credited with being the first country music stars, along with Jimmie Rodgers. Maybelle Carter’s daughter June was first married to country star Carl Smith. Their daughter Carlene Carter became a musician whose version of country music was produced by her rocker husband Nick Lowe. June Carter later married country legend Johnny Cash. Rosanne Cash, his daughter from his first marriage, became one of the most important artists of In-Law Country. Rosanne’s producer husband Rodney Crowell had made his claim to fame as a band leader and harmony singer for Emmylou Harris before becoming an important country artist in his own right. Other members of Emmylou’s band at various times included Ricky Skaggs, who first found success as a duet partner with Keith Whitley (who married singer Lorrie Morgan, daughter of 1950s country star George Morgan) and later enjoyed his own solo success when he figured out how to synthesize bluegrass and radio-friendly country music; Emory Gordy, who married and produced Patty Loveless; and James Burton, the legendary guitar player from Elvis Presley’s touring band who had also played on early Ricky Nelson hits. These connections just go on and on. Wrapped around all of it is the pervasive influence of Guy Clark and Gram Parsons.
I maybe just made this sound like People magazine or even the National Enquirer, but In-Law Country: How Emmylou Harris, Rosanne Cash, and Their Circle Fashioned a New Kind of Country Music, 1968-1985 reads more like literate criticism as Himes dissects the relevant songs and albums that expanded the In-Law Country movement while giving readers plenty to ponder about the musicians’ personal and professional lives.
April 14, 2025
This was a very enjoyable book about the country music style that emerged in the late 60s not from Nashville but southern California. The book focused on several artists that shaped and advanced this music. The godmother of the style is Emmylou Harris who began her career as a folk singer then gravitated toward the new style popularized by her mentor Gram Parsons. The other artists profiled are Rodney Crowell, Guy Clark, Rosanne Cash, Townes Van Zandt and Ricky Skaggs. Himes did a great job with this material. The only nit I had was his tendency to slip into music lingo that a layman has difficulty comprehending. I understand this is the first of a multi-volume set. I'm looking forward to reading the next book in this series.
June 7, 2025
Good read for country music buffs
February 5, 2026
Himes has constructed a very strong argument (even if he hammers the term "irony" to death! LOL). I came to these musicians through the back door* - you might expect the very popular Emmylou Harris would open the door to the much more obscure Gram Parsons, Guy Clark, or Townes Van Zandt, but I met the music of Townes and Gram first (each have their ravenous cults!) and then Guy, and finally I started to pay more attention to Emmylou's work and then into Rodney and Rosanne. (Can't say I'm terribly familiar with Skaggs, although I suspect I'd recognize several songs if I were to stream him today - I was a tad young in the early to middle-80s to be terribly cognizant of the performers, but I often recognize songs.)
Initially, I thought Himes spent a bit too much time on the influences - Gram, the Byrds, Clarence White - not that they don't deserve a strong spotlight, but I felt 'influences' could've been tightened to a single chapter (and I've read a few Parsons/Burrito Brothers bios, including Chris Hillman's book, so it's territory that's been covered), but when I got to the end and he revealed this is a multi-volume set, I understood better why he allocated the space as he did.
I'll be curious of his "In-Law Country" label catches on. Coming to this music much later than its commercial heyday, and coming at it from Gram and Townes, the commercial impact has never really been on my radar, so I always considered this scene the "Guy Clark's Kitchen Table" scene after that scene in HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS. LOL Given Guy's commercial limitations, I can see why Himes went another route!
When I finished this book, I definitely considered if I even wanted another volume tracing these musicians. I got a lot of the background and history from it that I wanted, along with detailed and fascinating commentary on the music (much I agreed with, although I like the SALLY ROSE album more than Himes seems to! Don't let a little discrepancy in your assessment of a song or album cause you to lose track of Himes' overall narrative.). I know much of the music of Emmylou, Rodney, and Rosanne, but I didn't know a lot about the people themselves, but thinking more about it, I would like to see Himes trace their influence coming forward to today's artists. The reason I came in through the back door, as it were, is because so many of today's "Americana" stalwarts cite John Prine, Clark, Townes, etc. as major influences, so it'll be interesting to see that throughline develop in the proper chronological order.
*Actually, it ALL traces back to NIRVANA with me, the band that changed everything when I was fifteen years old. (Could you have been a more perfect age when NEVERMIND was released?) Nirvana's proximity got me to listen to Pearl Jam occasionally, and although I've never been more than lukewarm toward Eddie and co., they definitely introduced me to Neil Young. Neil cracked the door to country music (connecting David Crosby to Parsons isn't a big leap!) and let Willie Nelson slip inside. Then in '03, I saw Neil live and the north star of all music opened that show - Lucinda Williams had arrived in my awareness, and soon Steve Earle, Townes, Blaze Foley, and dozens more followed.
Initially, I thought Himes spent a bit too much time on the influences - Gram, the Byrds, Clarence White - not that they don't deserve a strong spotlight, but I felt 'influences' could've been tightened to a single chapter (and I've read a few Parsons/Burrito Brothers bios, including Chris Hillman's book, so it's territory that's been covered), but when I got to the end and he revealed this is a multi-volume set, I understood better why he allocated the space as he did.
I'll be curious of his "In-Law Country" label catches on. Coming to this music much later than its commercial heyday, and coming at it from Gram and Townes, the commercial impact has never really been on my radar, so I always considered this scene the "Guy Clark's Kitchen Table" scene after that scene in HEARTWORN HIGHWAYS. LOL Given Guy's commercial limitations, I can see why Himes went another route!
When I finished this book, I definitely considered if I even wanted another volume tracing these musicians. I got a lot of the background and history from it that I wanted, along with detailed and fascinating commentary on the music (much I agreed with, although I like the SALLY ROSE album more than Himes seems to! Don't let a little discrepancy in your assessment of a song or album cause you to lose track of Himes' overall narrative.). I know much of the music of Emmylou, Rodney, and Rosanne, but I didn't know a lot about the people themselves, but thinking more about it, I would like to see Himes trace their influence coming forward to today's artists. The reason I came in through the back door, as it were, is because so many of today's "Americana" stalwarts cite John Prine, Clark, Townes, etc. as major influences, so it'll be interesting to see that throughline develop in the proper chronological order.
*Actually, it ALL traces back to NIRVANA with me, the band that changed everything when I was fifteen years old. (Could you have been a more perfect age when NEVERMIND was released?) Nirvana's proximity got me to listen to Pearl Jam occasionally, and although I've never been more than lukewarm toward Eddie and co., they definitely introduced me to Neil Young. Neil cracked the door to country music (connecting David Crosby to Parsons isn't a big leap!) and let Willie Nelson slip inside. Then in '03, I saw Neil live and the north star of all music opened that show - Lucinda Williams had arrived in my awareness, and soon Steve Earle, Townes, Blaze Foley, and dozens more followed.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews