By Richard O Jones
Emmylou Harris said that even though she's not, strictly speaking, a bluegrass musician, bluegrass is at the heart of everything she does.
"I've always drawn from that well," she said.
Prior to her performance Tuesday as part of the Down From the Mountain Tour, Harris will make a personal appearance in Butler County at the grand opening of Sally Rose Music, 2273 Millville Ave. in Lodder's Plaza, 5:30 p.m. Monday.
Harris will be autographing copies of the up-coming re-release of her album "Roses in the Snow," one of her more traditional albums, which will include two previously unreleased songs.
Sally Rose Music is named after Harris' nickname, which also inspired an album, "The Ballad of Sally Rose," one of only two albums featuring music written by Harris herself.
"Sally Rose has become something like my alter-ego or evil twin," she said. "The album is based on things that happened to me, but fictionalized."
Although her writing has received critical acclaim, songwriting is just not something she does, she said. Her reputation has developed, then, as being a good "song finder," but she can't explain how that happens, either.
"It's a mystery to me after all these years," she said. "You try to keep searching for songs and it creates a magnetic field that draws good songs to you. The circle keeps getting wider and wider, and it's not like I pick up a briefcase and go to the office every morning. Music is more like my life than my job."
The first 250 customers to visit Sally Rose Music during Harris' appearance will receive a free RC Cola and a "big Moon Pie," according to Reggie Mays, owner. Mays is a past president of the Emmylou Harris Fan Club and a collector of country music memorabilia.
Sally Rose Music, he said, will sell bluegrass, country and gospel music, and will be decorated with memorabilia from such country music stars as Roy Acuff, Garth Brooks, George Jones, Bill Monroe and others.
His vast collection of Emmylou Harris items include clothing she's worn on various album covers and videos, certificates from her Grammy and CMA awards, high school yearbooks and a trophy she won in a beauty contest in her youth.
"Reggie has been one of those true blue fans," Harris said. "He's always been there and always been responsive to everything I've done."