In this second of five episodes from the Nonesuch Journal's video interview with Emmylou Harris about the making of her new album, All I Intended to Be, Emmylou talks about the album's centerpiece, Tracy Chapman's "All That You Have Is Your Soul." She recalls the first time she heard the tune, off Chapman's second record, 1989's Crossroads, saying: "I was just stunned by it." Check in tomorrow for episode three, "Sailing Round the Room," on working with Kate and Anna McGarrigle.

Emmylou Harris , whose latest Nonesuch release, All I Intended to Be, is due out on June 10, is the subject of an extensive profile in yesterday's Sunday Times magazine, in which Harris discusses the breadth of her life and career. The Times calls the new album "a typically well-crafted collection that shows off her prowess as an interpreter of other people's songs, her ability to elide the distinction between folk, country and rock, and her own underrated skill as a songwriter." Also coming from the UK is an interview and session Emmylou gave to the BBC Radio 2 Johnnie Walker show. 

Today, the Nonesuch Journal launches a week-long series of video interviews with Emmylou Harris, leading up to next week's release of her third solo record on Nonesuch, All I Intended to Be. Over the course of these five episodes, the singer/songwriter discusses the making of the new album and her relationship to its songs. In this initial episode, Emmylou shares the story behind the disc's opening track, "Shores of White Sand," the song that first inspired her to record the new album. Here Emmylou explains the inextricable link between her own version and the original.

The work of Cincinnati, Ohio-based photographer Michael Wilson has graced the covers of countless Nonesuch albums over the years, including the iconic imagery featured on Nonesuch albums by David Byrne, Bill Frisell, Emmylou Harris, Randy Newman, the Brad Mehldau Trio, and Nicholas Payton. His photography will be on display in an exhibit at the Boone County Public Library in Cincinnati beginning this Wednesday. Michael will be on hand to discuss his work in an opening reception that night.

Emmylou Harris's new Nonesuch release, All I Intended to Be, is due out June 10. Crawdaddy!'s Steve Matteo calls "Harris's recent albums, including this new one, some of the best music she has ever made ... [H]er voice remains the heart of her music. The aching compassion with which she sings reveals a voice as real as any in music today." Matteo concludes with high praise for "this superb recording": "It would appear that Harris is simply incapable of making a bad album."

Emmylou Harris's new album, All I Intended to Be, is due out on June 10, but you can pre-order your copy now. You'll be able to download the album MP3s on release date, at no additional cost, and receive the CD on or around the same day. This is Emmylou's third solo release on Nonesuch and her first solo effort since 2003's Stumble Into Grace. Of the material she selected for the album, Harris explains, "I've always seen myself as a relentless song-finder, a singer of other people's work whom I admire greatly, and an occasional songwriter." Recorded over a four-year span primarily at producer Brian Ahern's Easter Island Surround in Nashville, for the first time in 25 years, this album returns Harris to the producer she worked with for her first 11 albums.