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Chris Willman
Senior Music Writer and Chief Music Critic
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Chris Willman/Variety The lure of paying tribute to Sheryl Crow in speech and song brought out the big guns at an event honoring the singer-songwriter in Nashville Monday night, as Olivia Rodrigo, Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell, Lauren Daigle, Eric Church and Melissa Etheridge all turned out to turn in stellar covers of Crow’s songs as part of the intimate, invite-only dinner held at BMI‘s Nashville headquarters.
Crow was receiving the BMI Troubadour Award, typically given to artists who fall into the realms of Americana and/or rootsy rock ‘n’ roll, with previous honorees ranging from John Fogerty to Lucinda Williams. As perhaps the biggest non-country music star living and working in Nashville, Crow was a shoo-in to be selected for that honor, with a guest list befitting her stature and a mini-tribute concert that won’t soon be forgotten by the couple hundred industry guests.
All of the guests sang backed by a house band of Music City stalwarts, Rodrigo was the biggest surprise of the night, having flown in to sing “Strong Enough” in Crow’s honor. Other performances included Isbell kicking off the evening’s performances with “Run Baby Run,” followed by Etheridge singing “If It Makes You Happy,” Daigle doing “Every Day Is a Winding Road,” Eric Church performing “Leaving Las Vegas” and Stapleton tearing into “I Shall Believe.”
Rodrigo prefaced her performance with an anecdote illustrating Crow’s largess. “I just firstly wanted to say what an honor it is to be here tonight celebrating someone incredible,” she said. “Obviously Sheryl is the most magnificent singer-songwriter artist ever, but what inspires me the most about you is your heart and your kindness and your generosity. I’m sure so many people in here have stories like this, but I was thinking about it on the way over. The first time I ever met Sheryl, we were playing at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame together. We were singing ‘Happy’ with the guitar, and I was playing one of the guitars that the crew gave me, and I was like, ‘This guitar’s awesome. I love it. She goes, ‘Oh, do you want it?’ And I was like, ‘Sure. I’m not gonna take Sheryl Crow’s guitar. And wouldn’t you know it, the next day, I woke up and I got a package and it was Sheryl Crow’s guitar. And I just think that it’s my most prized possession.”
In her acceptance speech wrapping up the night, Crow said, “I tell my bandmates this all the time, but I do feel like this most spoiled, um, let’s just say, legacy artist … as opposed to, like, old lady on the stage. I keep saying to the Grammys, I’m like, ‘You give out Best New. How come you can’t give out Best Old?'”
The night also included video testimonials recorded for the event by the Chicks, Brandi Carlile and other stars. It also featured a lengthy personal speech from someone who is not often in the spotlight, her longtime co-writer and studio guitarist, Jeff Trott, who recalled canceling his agreement to join the Wallflowers when Crow called him and said she wanted him to come in and record songs for her second album that they’d written months earlier and he figured had been abandoned — soon-to-be classics like “If It Makes You Happy” — a change in plans he felt bashful about, as far as leaving the Wallflowers in the lurch, but one he hasn’t regretted, given their 30 subsequent years of constant collaboration.
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