Well.......I wrote some of this in a PM to Susan, but what the hell, y'all can take it for what it's worth.........Yeah, I know...Not much.

Emmylou is a tremendous "student" of country music and when she applies what she has learned from her "roots" people, I can understand how Susan can have a hard time picking out what's what. The fact that she herself is a terrific harmony singer makes it even more difficult (such as Jean pointed out above). With Ricky Skaggs, also a fine student and with similar taste and harmony ability, it can get pretty strange........Don't get me wrong, it is just beautiful as far as I'm concerned, but it's basis is the key to hearing what's happening.

Those "roots" to her are often from two sources.......well, two main sources and hundreds of others. First, on a lot of songs you cannot miss the Bill Monroe influence.....it's obvious, and she is a great admirer. The other harmony sound that really embodies that "Where is the melody" thing comes from Buck Owens and his great harmony partner of many years, Don Rich. Owens never "had it" again after Rich was killed. If you listen to a steady diet of Owens/Rich and then to Emmylou, the whole thing becomes more obvious as she swaps back and forth. And don't forget that her first mentor, Gram Parsons was a big Owens fan.

If you aren't used to listening to the Owens/Rich sound then "Where is the melody?" becomes a good question. If you're tuned into what they did, it's a lot easier.

My 2 cents..........

Spaw