PORTLAND - Country music gets stripped down to basics - just crystalline voices, solid instrumental backing and heartfelt songwriting - when Emmylou Harris plays the Oregon Zoo, along with Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein, Tuesday, July 22, at 7 p.m., as part of the zoo's Summer Concert Series presented by Fred Meyer and Wells Fargo.

"No modern female country artist has been as influential or consistent as Emmylou Harris," said Krista Swan, zoo events coordinator. "Her beautiful songs, coupled with the lovely duets of Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein, make for an evening of unforgettable music."

Harris, who came to fame in the early 1970s as the prot?e of country-rock pioneer Gram Parsons, was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame in February. She has earned seven gold records, six No. 1 country singles and 12 Grammy awards.

Born in Alabama, Harris entered the University of North Carolina on a drama scholarship. There, she began to explore the folk melodies of Joan Baez and Bob Dylan. After several attempts to launch a music career, Harris caught the attention of Parsons, with whom she cut the critically acclaimed "G.P." and "Grievous Angel" albums.

Harris' 1975 solo album "Pieces of the Sky" featured the Top 5 country hit "If I Could Only Win Your Love," and her next album, "Elite Hotel," topped the country charts, earning two No. 1 singles and a Grammy for best female country performance.

Since then, Harris has sold millions of records and gained heaps of critical praise for what Rolling Stone has called her "unaffected country passion." In 2002, Country Music Television rated her one the five "Greatest Women of Country Music," alongside Patsy Cline, Tammy Wynette, Loretta Lynn and Dolly Parton.

More than 30 years into her career, Harris remains a vital presence in the music world. Her latest album, "All I Intended to Be," released this month to enthusiastic reviews, "attests to her quiet but steely confidence as a singer, which is still extremely well placed," according to The New York Times. In concert, the Times adds, "it's a safe bet that she'll make every song feel personal, whatever its pedigree."

Like Harris, Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein adhere to the beauty of simple country music. Founding members of the bluegrass supergroup Chesapeake, the pair teamed up this year to produce "2:10 Train," an album that - using only one guitar and one mandolin - fuses traditional bluegrass with subtle rock and acoustic influences.

"The title track of '2:10 Train' is an incredibly powerful song about the train that takes spouses home after visiting day at Big Ben prison," Swan said. "Like Emmylou Harris, Jimmy Gaudreau and Moondi Klein never let the music obscure the beauty of their lyrics or delicacy of their compositions."

Tickets for the concert can be purchased at the Oregon Zoo for $24 each. Tickets can also be purchased (with service charge) online or at Ticketmaster locations at area Fred Meyer stores.

For more on the concert schedule, or to purchase tickets, visit www.oregonzoo.org.

The Oregon Zoo has brought outdoor music to Portland for 30 years. In 1979, the zoo became the first zoo in the nation to host a summer concert series. Since then, the series has become one of the top outdoor events in the Northwest, and is the region's longest-running outdoor series.

Fred Meyer and Wells Fargo are the presenting sponsors of the series. This year's series is also co-sponsored by KINK fm 102 and KATU Television and PDX magazine.