“Photography by Alan Messer”        

Rodney Crowell, a Grammy-winning songwriter, producer, and artist, brings poetry and earthy tautness to the soundtrack of people in the cracks, carving out lives that matter - if only to themselves and the people they know.  

     Born in Houston, Texas, his songwriting led him to Nashville - where Emmylou Harris heard the young writer's songs.  Crowell soon became a potent alchemic property in the sound the queen of hippie country was conjuring.  It was only a matter of time until Crowell struck out on his own, producing Rosanne Cash's seminal Seven Year Ache, which marked a new wave in country - and providing hits for Bob Seger, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, Waylon Jennings and Crystal Gayle, among others.  Crowell's own albums established a benchmark of what was possible in the ground between Ray Price, Hank Williams and the Rolling Stones - Johnny Cash and Elvis.  Diamonds & Dirt, considered the definitive album of the new traditionalist movement, was country's first album to yield five #1's.  His acclaimed autobiographical album, The Houston Kid, marked a landmark for Crowell as he broke free from the constraints of writing songs for commercial radio - shifting his focus instead to crafting and recording music that reflected a new chapter in his life and career.  

     Signaling another artistic watershed, Crowell’s memoir, Chinaberry Sidewalks, was published by Knopf in January of 2011.