There’s no stage more famous in country music than the Grand Ole Opry, and for Jim Lauderdale, despite having performed there almost 200 times, the thrill never gets old.
“I really look forward to it every time,” Jim told Erazer about taking to the stage in the same building that has hosted Johnny Cash, Dolly Parton and almost every country star in history.
From one legendary venue to another, Jim will be performing at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Sunday, May 17 as part of Highways Festival.
Returning for its second year, Carly Pearce, Jon Pardi and Randall King are among the headliners bringing Nashville to London next month.
Jim, a bluegrass player who has been in the scene for 40 years, will be making his debut at the South Kensington concert hall as a special guest.
“I never thought I’d get the opportunity to play there so I’m really excited about it. I can hardly believe it,” he said.
Jim will be on before Sunday headliner, the legendary CMA and Grammy winning musician (and Jim’s collaborator) Emmylou Harris.
After first discovering her in the mid 1970s, Jim eventually got to work with Emmylou on The King of Broken Hearts, which featured on his 1991 record Planet of Love.
“I just love Emmylou’s music so much,” he said.
“My producer Rodney Crowell had worked with her extensively and he arranged for her to sing harmony on that song. She’s just one of the greatest.”
From Blake Shelton to The Chicks, Jim has worked with almost everyone in Nashville, though it was when he attended a benefit concert for a bluegrass club in L.A. that he first met one of the most revered British singer-songwriters of all time, Elvis Costello.
“I had such an affinity for Elvis,” Jim said, going on to name Nick Lowe and Dave Edmunds in the same sentence.
“My old manager had been in a band from the Bay area that featured on his first album.”
After running into the She singer at a few more events – including the Newport Folk Festival – Jim got a call asking if he’d be part of a new band.
“Elvis was playing this festival called Merlefest and was going to put together an acoustic show. He was wondering if I would sing harmony. I just jumped at that.”
Not long after, the pair went on tour and wrote songs together, just cementing Jim’s legacy as a legendary musician.
Ahead of his Highways Festival appearance, Jim will be on the road around the UK supporting Emmylou Harris on her whole tour, and for the third time in one year, the duo will be back to England in August for The Long Road Festival.
On bringing country music to the UK, Jim said the influences bounce back and forth, with one band significantly impacting his life being The Beatles.
“That was such a magical time and they changed the world,” he said about the Fab Four.
“They were very influenced by American music,” he added. “They influenced so many people in America that it bounced back over. It just goes back and forth.”
Jim Lauderdale will tour across the UK with Emmylou Harris from Monday, May 11 to Monday, May 18, including at Highways Festival on Sunday, May 17.
