STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK
It pays to have friends with connections.
Emmylou Harris embraced a young Hailey native to open her concert Tuesday night at River Run Lodge.
And Ian Janco, in turn, gave her a thrill as the legendary singer-songwriter Carole King turned out to see the young boy who had spent several years at her ranch near Stanley while his parents served as caretakers.
“As if singing in this beautiful place wasn’t enough, as if singing before such a wonderful audience wasn’t enough, to sit down with Carole King—the mighty King. Thank you, Carole for the soundtrack of our lives!” Harris enthused.
Of course, Harris is no slouch, either, when it comes to making her mark on the world of country music, and she showed why in front of 2,800 people at the Sun Valley Center for the Arts’ Summer Concert Series.
Rearing back her thick mane of white hair, she sang soulfully and earnestly, embracing the traditionalism of the country music she started out with some 40 years ago.
She sang a song about waiting for the Alabama sun to go down as a sliver of moon rose over Sun Valley’s Bald Mountain.
She gave a benediction of sorts, blessing those in the crowd who had taken in rescue dogs, as she sang a song in honor of the shelter she’d founded in Nashville named Bonaparte’s Retreat in honor of her own now-departed canine companion.
And she sang a lusty version of Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Boxer.”
Harris noted that it had taken her 40 years to record an album with Rodney Crowell that they dubbed “The Traveling Kind.”
“It was nominated in the Americana category. We were Americana before there was the name ‘Americana!’ ” she said.
“I’ve been in love with her since I was 18—I have all her records,” said Gerard Kelly, who was there with his wife Kate. “I respect her for her tradition, the consistency she brings to her song. She’s never lost the sound from where she came from.”
Ian Janco (Gilberg) made his way from Liverpool, England, where he currently lives.
In the vein of such 1960s troubadours as Neil Young and Bob Dylan, he sang a song he’d written for his girlfriend: “If I could, I would follow the sunset…If I could, I would write you a letter but I don’t know where you’ll be next…”
“If you like this next song, tweet your heart out on Facebook,” he told the audience as he launched into the lyrics, “You know that I want you in my life.”
Janco played to the older listeners in the audience with Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl,” as he sang about transistor radios and things the younger listeners had never heard of.
Then he sang, “Here I Am.”
“It’s about that feeling you get when you’re standing on a diving board looking down on a pool,” he said. “That pool is love and you’re a little bit scared. Finally, you decide to jump.” “This has truly been a moving experience,” he told the audience. “It’s been the biggest crowd I’ve ever played for.”
The respectful crowd seemed to enjoy Janco, as well.
“He’s nice. His music is really mellow,” said Marci Onofrio.
Harris brought the concert to a close nearly three hours after it started, reminiscing for a third time about the beauty of Sun Valley.
“It is a beautiful spot in the world,” she said as she launched into Neil Young’s “It’s a Dream.” I believe in global warming—we’re all caretakers of this world.”
COMING UP:
Lake Street Dive and Gregory Alan Isakov will play the last concert in The Center’s Summer Concert Series on Aug. 17. For tickets go to www.sunvalleycenter.org or call 208-726-9491.