POP MUSIC : How This Cowgirl Beat the Blues : Emmylou Harris reflects on her unorthodox path through country music, the singers who really matter and her new spiritually tinged album

Most of the country music world is in awe of Emmylou Harris, from the new crop of best-selling singers to Nashville’s hottest songwriters and producers.

Mention Harris’ name and they’ll talk at length about the beauty of her voice and her great feel for adventurous material, and how she has helped expand the creative horizons of country music during the past 18 years.

Equally at home singing the music of the Beatles, Neil Young or Merle Haggard, Harris showed in an exquisite series of albums on Warner Bros. Records that you could turn to quality songs from other genres, especially rock, without sacrificing the soulful integrity of country.

At the same time, Harris, 46, has helped refocus attention on the traditional country values that were branded as obsolete by the Nashville Establishment during and after the “Urban Cowboy” pop compromises of the early ‘80s.

Though everyone from Garth Brooks to Wynonna Judd has walked through doors opened by Harris, the Birmingham, Ala., native herself has not benefited from the unprecedented commercial boom in country during the ‘90s.

One reason is that she is viewed by many radio programmers as part of the country Old Guard rather than the new commercial energy. In part because of minimal airplay, Harris hasn’t had a Top 10 country album since 1986.

That may change with “Cowgirl’s Prayer,” her first release for Asylum Records. The album is highlighted by a group of reflective, sometimes spiritually tinged songs. (See review, Page 76.)

In an interview, Harris--who will be at the Ambassador Auditorium in Pasadena on Thursday and the Lancaster Performing Arts Center in Lancaster on Friday--speaks of her place in country music, today’s new commercial climate and her own favorite vocalists.

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Question: What was the first thing that interested you about music and records?

Answer: It was probably the words. It’s why I got interested in folk music. Dylan was a really big influence. I loved hearing Joan Baez or Judy Collins do the old songs, but the new songs--the ones by Dylan or Tom Paxton--just had something extra. And I loved country blues, people like Son House, Robert Johnson, Bukka White . . . the sound of the slide acoustic guitar. But it was mostly the lyrics.

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Q: If words are so important, how come you haven’t written more--especially after the success of “Boulder to Birmingham” on your first Warners album?

A: I don’t think I’ll ever write a lot. If I do get an idea that I don’t feel is going to go away, I will pursue it, but I think my main job in life is to find songs and interpret them.

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Q: What was the reaction of country music when you started recording for Warner Bros.? Was Nashville suspicious because you recorded in Los Angeles and you didn’t stick to conventional country material?

A: There were some people who might have thought I hadn’t paid my dues or come in the right door, but I felt very comfortable for the most part. I’m really thankful I was on Warners-Reprise and signed out of Burbank. The company gave me a lot of freedom. If I had to fight for what I wanted to do, I’m not sure how things would have turned out. I don’t know how strong I was because I was still finding out who I was as an artist.

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Q: Did you ever feel a conflict between being a rock artist and a country artist?

A: No. I said from Day One that I was a country artist. At the same time, I always knew that I was coming at the music from the outside . . . from someone who had discovered country music, not someone who was raised on it. My friends and I had grown up on rock and still loved rock, but we also fell in love with the poetry that was in country music. That’s what Gram Parsons showed me.

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Q: Are great singers made or born?

A: You have to have at least the ability to sing, but I don’t think I would have been the artist I am if I hadn’t met Gram. There was something missing before. I didn’t know how to use my voice--I don’t mean in a technical sense, but in an emotional way. Gram played a lot of great country music for me, and I heard how important the phrasing was.

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Q: Some people call you the greatest female singer ever in country music. Who would you nominate as the best?

A: That’s hard. Dolly Parton was a big influence on me, especially when I was coming out of folk, because her voice to me is not a classic country voice. It has that mountain folk singer sound. In the more mainstream country sense, it is hard to beat Loretta Lynn. Her voice just astonishes me.

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Q: What about Patsy Cline? She’s often cited by critics.

A: She was an extraordinary singer, but I’ve always thought of her as more of a pop singer than a real, stone country singer.

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Q: How about the greatest male country singer?

A: At one time, I would have said George Jones without question. I learned so much listening to him, and yet I would probably have to say Merle Haggard. I don’t think there was ever one bad thing that came out of Merle’s mouth on record.

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Q: What if you forgot the country tag and just spoke of singers generally? Who are some you admire?

A: Otis Redding. There’s just such raw passion in his voice. And I love Bruce Springsteen. He phrases like a country singer, like an Everly brother. He’s not what you’d call a great singer technically, but he knows how to get the most out of a phrase.

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Q: And women?

A: When I was young, I was attracted to the tragedy of Billie Holiday’s life. I read her biography at a time when I was asking what life was all about, and I was moved by how strong she was--how she never blamed anyone for what happened to her. She has marvelous phrasing. Edith Piaf was another favorite; the French Sparrow and all that passion.

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Q: Aretha Franklin?

A: An astonishing singer. There is nothing she can’t do acrobatically with her voice, but she doesn’t use her voice to show off. She conveys such passion.

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Q: What about the current popularity boom in country music?

A: I have mixed feelings. I am pleased for the success, but it bothers me when so many talented people like Steve Earle have the door shut on them or when Nanci Griffith is sort of turned away. It seems anybody who has any rough edges is turned back, anyone who doesn’t fit some kind of mold. There is no way my first album would be played on country radio today.

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Q: What about the level of creativity today?

A: I think what you hear on the radio is real limited--at least what I have heard. There doesn’t seem to be a lot of depth. A lot of people who have become country music fans over the last few years don’t know who Lefty Frizzell or Bill Monroe is, or even Merle Haggard and George Jones. Those are one-of-a-kind, unique people. When their voices come on the air, you know who it is. You don’t have to wait until the deejay tells you. To me, that’s always been the test of a great singer: Is there a uniqueness there?

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Q: Are you a Garth Brooks fan?

A: I like him. I know there has been a lot of Garth bashing because of all his success, but I think he is a guy with an amazing voice who puts a lot of thought and care into the songs he chooses to sing.

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Q: What about your new album? There seems to be a spiritual undercurrent to it.

A: It wasn’t really a conscious thing, and I get real nervous when people want to read into it that it is a spiritual album or a Christian album. To me, the album is about searching . . . for some kind of inner peace, whether that means through a relationship or on a spiritual level.

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Q: Do you feel that the album represents a change of direction?

A: Not at all. To me, it’s part of the same musical journey. In fact, that’s one of the criticisms country radio has with me. They say I’m stuck in a rut. Well, I happen to like this rut, if that’s what you call it. To me, life is about searching, and music should reflect that search. That’s one of the reasons music means so much to us. Whether you are listening to Billie Holiday or Loretta Lynn, Hank Williams or Bob Dylan, the best artists are trying to articulate the things we all feel inside.