The City Sinners
Schedule
Thu, 12 Mar, 2026 at 07:00 pm
UTC+00:00Location
The Mall, DD10 8NW Montrose, United Kingdom | Montrose, SC
THE CITY SINNERS PLAY GRAM AND EMMYLOU – featuring ‘ELITE HOTEL’To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the release of ‘Elite Hotel’, the second solo album from
EMMYLOU HARRIS, the City Sinners present the album in its entirety, plus a selection of
songs associated with both Gram and Emmylou.
GRAM PARSONS first came to prominence as a member of THE BYRDS and was credited with
steering them in a more country direction, culminating in the SWEETHEART OF THE RODEO
album in 1968. Shortly afterwards, along with Byrds bass player CHRIS HILLMAN, he left the
band and formed THE FLYING BURRITO BROTHERS. After two albums, including the seminal
‘GILDED PALACE OF SIN’, drugs and alcohol started to take their toll on Parsons, and he was
effectively thrown out of the band.
He went on to record two solo albums before his death in 1973 at the age of 26, but the
impact of his short career continues to the present day, with contemporary performers such
as KEITH RICHARDS and ELVIS COSTELLO citing him as an influence. Many critics have
credited him with ‘inventing’ country rock, a genre later popularised by bands such as POCO
and THE EAGLES, or, as Chris Hillman wryly observed -:
“The Byrds invented country rock, Gram and I refined it, and the Eagles took it to the bank”
EMMYLOU HARRIS was a struggling folk singer when invited by Parsons to sing on his first
solo record ‘GP’, and on the follow up ‘Grievous Angel’ she was listed as a main collaborator,
including co-writing one of the songs, ‘In My Hour of Darkness’.
After Parsons’ death, Emmylou embarked on a solo career, and is now an internationally
renowned singer and songwriter. In addition to her large solo catalogue, she has recorded
albums with DOLLY PARTON, LINDA RONSTADT, RODNEY CROWELL, and MARK KNOPFLER.
THE CITY SINNERS were formed in Glasgow in 2006, and toured a show based on the life and
music of GRAM PARSONS. On the conclusion of this project, the band decided to continue,
and expanded their repertoire to include some original material, and songs by other
contemporary writers in the country/ Americana field. After several changes of personnel,
the final gig was at The Kelso Music Festival in 2015.
In 2023 the band decided to get back together to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ‘Grievous
Angel’, the first official Gram/Emmylou collaboration, and such was its success, that they
were persuaded to keep the band together for this new project.