Rodney Crowell (born August 7, 1950) is an American musician, known primarily for his work as a singer and songwriter in country music.

In his teen years, he played in various garage rock bands in Houston, performing hits of the day mixed with a few country numbers.

[4] In August 1972 he moved to Nashville, Tennessee, in search of a musical career and got a job as a songwriter after being discovered by Jerry Reed.

[5] Emmylou Harris had recorded one of Crowell's songs, "Bluebird Wine", on her Pieces of the Sky album and made a request to meet him.

[5][7] In 1977 as a side project, he formed a musical group, The Cherry Bombs, together with Vince Gill, Tony Brown and others.

[8] One year later, he signed a solo deal with Warner Bros. Records and in August 1978, released his debut album, Ain't Living Long Like This.

Crowell himself criticized his debut album for not translating onto vinyl the same clarity and energy he felt in the studio.

[9] Though he had already several country hits by artists covering his songs (including "I Ain't Living Long Like This" by Waylon Jennings, "Leaving Louisiana..." by the Oak Ridge Boys, and several covers by Johnny Cash, Rosanne Cash, Emmylou Harris, Jerry Reed and others), Crowell got his first big taste of pop songwriting success with "Shame on the Moon".

The song's dark, poetic and hypnotic style helped boost Crowell's cult status.

[5] In 1983, Crystal Gayle had a number one country single with his song "'Til I Gain Control Again" from her first Elektra album, True Love.

In 1984, Crowell returned to working on his own music career and recorded what was to be a new album for Warner Bros., Street Language.

His first album for that label was reworked Street Language,[10] co-produced with Booker T. Jones and featuring a blend of soul and country music.

Although best known as a songwriter and alternative country artist, Crowell enjoyed mainstream popularity during the late 1980s and early 1990s.

1 singles during a 17-month span in 1988 and 1989: "It's Such a Small World" (a duet with Cash), "I Couldn't Leave You If I Tried," "She's Crazy For Leavin'," "After All This Time" and "Above and Beyond" (a cover of Buck Owens' 1962 hit).

Crowell followed up this effort with Fate's Right Hand in 2003 and The Outsider in 2005, both of which appeared on Columbia Nashville, a division of Sony Music.

Rodney Crowell was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2003 with fellow inductees Hal Blair, Paul Overstreet and John Prine.

2004 saw the release of The Notorious Cherry Bombs, a reunion of Crowell's 1970s road band, including Vince Gill and Tony Brown.

In 2005, Crowell served as producer for established Irish singer-songwriter Kieran Goss on the album "Blue Sky Sunrise".

Crowell released his next album, Sex & Gasoline, on Yep Roc Records in 2008, ending his relationship with Sony Music.

"Chinaberry Sidewalks" focuses primarily on Crowell's relationship with his parents’ marriage and his own early years growing up in Houston, Texas.

A variety of other artists recorded the other songs on the album, including Norah Jones, Vince Gill, Lucinda Williams, Lee Ann Womack, Rosanne Cash, Kris Kristofferson and Emmylou Harris.

On December 20, 2016, Crowell released a music video for the song "It Ain't Over Yet", which features guest vocals from Rosanne Cash and John Paul White as well as harmonia from Mickey Raphael.