Rosanne Cash - guitar, lead vocals; Vince Gill- lead guitar; Hank De Vito - steel guitar; Mike Joyce - bass; Larry London - drums; Richie Canata - keyboards, saxophone
Rosanne Cash was opening for The Oak Ridge Boys when this show was captured for the Silver Eagle Cross Country Radio series. Rosanne is the daughter of Johnny Cash and his first wife, but spent most of her teen and young adult life on the road with her father and his second wife, singer/songwriter June Carter. With her stepsister Carlene Carter, Rosanne sang backup on the Cash-Carter Family show.
By the early 1980s she decided to break off on her own and record her first record, something Carlene Carter had started doing in 1976. Rosanne hooked up, both professionally and romantically, with singer/songwriter/guitarist Rodney Crowell, who co-wrote and produced most of the tracks on her first few albums. Cash and Crowell would eventually marry and then divorce, but not before their partnership yielded a Top 10 country and pop radio hit, "Seven Year Ache."
Cash, whose music is a pleasant blend of rock-influenced country and adult pop, proves that as early as her initial tours she was a terrific live performer. She was also able to assemble an all-star backing band for this tour, including Billy Joel band sax/keyboardist Richie Canata; top Nashville drummer, Larry London; pedal steel maverick, Hank DeVito; and future country music superstar, Vince Gill on guitar and vocals. Gill, who had just left the Pure Prairie League, was in the infancy of his own songwriting and performing career.
Cash was still trying to keep her core country music audience happy, but it was clear from songs like "Ain't No Money," "It Hasn't Happened Yet, " and her single, "Seven Year Ache," that Cash was eager to develop a more crossover style.