Rodney Crowell has lived a Nashville dream life. He was a member of Emmylou Harris Hot Band in the ’70s, wrote Grammy-winning songs covered by Willie Nelson and others, and even married Johnny Cashs daughter, Rosanne, all while maintaining his reputation as a creator of smart country songs fusing pop sensibilities with a reverence for tradition. Most recently, Crowell set aside his guitar and composed a memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks (Knopf, $24.95), focusing not on his long career but his Texas upbringing. In language that is straightforward, wry, and sometimes colloquial, Crowell wrestles with memories of his religious, epileptic mother and musical, self-destructive father. As a portrait of poverty and broken dreams in the South, Crowells book ranks alongside Rick Braggs All Over but the Shouting and Harry Crews A Childhood for its clarity and honesty. For his one-man show tonight, fans can expect Crowell to play No. 1 songs like Till I Gain Control Again and Long Hard Road between recollections from his masterful book. BRIAN J. BARR
Thu., Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m., 2011
