Psych-country pioneer Gram Parsons’ induction into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame this week has been a long time coming. Few cult heroes have had as much of a lasting impact as Parsons, who in the decades since his death in 1973, has inspired literally
generations of musicians, despite never having achieved commercial success. That was evident in the lineup for “A Song for Gram,” a tribute concert held Wednesday at the Troubadour in Los Angeles, which featured disciples and devotees of the “cosmic American” sound Parsons pioneered.
The concert (produced by Parsons’ daughter Polly along with Vector Management, the Rock Hall, and Rolling Stone co-editor in chief Shirley Halperin) brought together collaborators (Emmylou Harris), longtime champions (Elvis Costello, Sheryl Crow), and acolytes (Jesse Welles, Margo Price, Madison Cunningham), alongside musical scholars like Jim Lauderdale and Black Crowes, who regularly perform songs from the Parsons canon. With “cosmic accompaniment” by stellar house band Beachwood Sparks, the totality of talent channeled the singer-songwriter’s magic while exploring the entirety of his deep-but-short catalog. Selections came from his solo work and his time in the Flying Burrito Brothers, the Byrds, and early days with the International Submarine Band.
Polly Parsons kicked off the night with a speech that set out the vision of Gram’s music. “He looked at the landscape of American song,” she said from the stage, “and saw a map where all the roads connected … It was a seamless tapestry that wove together the deep, raw heartbreak of traditional country, the spiritual urgency of soul, the gritty energy of rock, and the storytelling of folk.”
Though each of those touch points was felt at some point in the night, as is often the case with multi-artist tribute concerts, the lower-billed, younger artists felt most imbued with Parsons’ spirit, starting with Grahame Lesh, who opened the musical portion with the International Submarine Band warbler “Luxury Liner.” Lesh — the son of Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh — wasn’t the only next-gen kin paying tribute: Harper Simon, Paul’s son, was on the bill as well, leading his way through a charismatic (and poignant for the times) “One Hundred Years From Now” and, later on, “Still Feeling Blue.”
The Parsons-influenced Americana band the Head and the Heart gorgeously harmonized through “Brass Buttons” and “A Song for You,” though singer Jonathan Russell may have wanted to dig deeper in his closet for Nudie wear (represented both onstage and in the crowd): The full-on Sinead O’Connor graphic T-shirt he wore was puzzling.
Neo-folk songwriter Jesse Welles, for his part, said he realized that country music could also include rock energy by discovering Parsons’ catalog. His solo version of “Hickory Wind” was Dylanesque in the best way — complete with harmonica — while his duet with Margo Price on “Return of the Grievous Angel,” faithful to the original with Emmylou Harris, sounded like the two walked off the record onto the stage. Local favorite Madison Cunningham also blew the audience away: hitting her upper register during “Hearts on Fire” seemed nearly impossible, while her nylon fingerpicking on “You Don’t Miss Your Water” was the most impressive guitar playing on a night that included a bevy of Hummingbirds, B-benders, and dreadnoughts.
Sense of place was important throughout, especially since the Troubadour itself was honored by the Rock Hall earlier in the day as a landmark music venue. Before their two-song set, the Black Crowes’ Chris Robinson reminded everyone that Parsons grew up in their newly-blue home state of Georgia; their “Lazy Days” swaggered and swayed while “She” found the Robinson brothers trading verses and exploring the tenderness of Parsons’ lyrics.
Considering the L.A. setting, where Parsons spent his later years living and recording, the sweetest moment of the night was surprise guest Sheryl Crow, who describes singing “Juanita” with Emmylou Harris as being “like heaven.” The duo had recorded a version of the song for 1999’s Return of the Grievous Angel: A Tribute to Gram Parsons, and nearly three decades later, their voices blended so beautifully that a rapt crowd turned silent to give their full attention. (During soundcheck earlier in the day, Crow marveled at performing with Harris, calling the experience “epic,” to which Harris replied, “You’re no slouch yourself.”
Harris was rightly the performer emeritus of the night, crooning alongside everyone from Elvis Costello (“Sleepless Nights”) to Jim Lauderdale (“The King of Broken Hearts,” recorded in 1991 as a duet with Harris) to Mike Campbell, who conjured the spirit of his late bandmate Tom Petty for “Love Hurts,” another highlight of the night. Even when she wasn’t onstage, Harris’ presence was known: both Price and Grace Potter played songs without her help but clearly within her influence, their big vocals rousing the room on “Christine’s Tune” for the former and “Ooh Las Vegas” for the latter. In the tradition that Harris helped establish decades ago, Potter took the lead for main-set closer “Hot Burrito #2,” prefacing the beloved tune by handing out actual hot burritos to several lucky audience members (no doubt grateful after standing up front for nearly three hours).
Naturally, the night ended with two big group sing-alongs: “Wild Horses,” famously recorded by Parsons before the Stones made it a hit, with verses traded between Chris Robinson, Lauderdale, and a finally-on-key Costello; and “In My Hour of Darkness,” which felt like a generational handoff as the younger performers took the lead, with dozens of people onstage leaning into the cosmos, sending one of rock’s great, underappreciated voices finally into the stratosphere.
Set List:
“Luxury Liner” — Grahame Lesh
“Christine’s Tune” — Margo Price
“Hearts on Fire” — Madison Cunningham
“One Hundred Years From Now” — Harper Simon
“Brass Buttons” — The Head and the Heart
A Song For You — The Head and the Heart
“Hickory Wind” — Jesse Welles
“Return of the Grievous Angel” — Jesse Welles, Margo Price
“Wheels” — Margo Price
“Big Mouth Blues” — Elvis Costello, Jim Lauderdale, Margo Price
“That’s All It Took” — Elvis Costello, Jim Lauderdale
“Hot Burrito #1” — Elvis Costello
“Sleepless Nights” — Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris
“Ooh Las Vegas” — BS, Grace Potter
“Still Feeling Blue” — BS, Harper Simon
“You Don’t Miss Your Water” — Madison Cunningham
“$1000 Wedding” — Grahame Lesh
“Streets of Baltimore” — Jim Lauderdale, Elvis Costello
“The King of Broken Hearts” — Emmylou Harris, Jim Lauderdale
“Juanita” — Sheryl Crow, Emmylou Harris
“Love Hurts” — Emmylou Harris, Mike Campbell
“Lazy Days” — The Black Crowes
“She” — The Black Crowes
“Hot Burrito #2” — Grace Potter
“Wild Horses”
“In My Hour of Darkness”
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