Emmylou Harris (Photo by Mark Seliger)
DC can claim a special place in Americana music. It’s the point of origin for both Emmylou Harris, who’s been dubbed the “queen of Americana,” as well as Mary Chapin Carpenter.
In each of their recent sets at Wolf Trap, they made a point of acknowledging the venue as a sort of home base. Harris said, “We owe the Washington, DC, area a lot, because that’s where we cut our teeth,” and she talked about attending elementary school in nearby Dumfries, Virginia. Carpenter spoke of her struggles working temp jobs and playing solo acoustic gigs in the city’s small clubs all those decades ago.
