Rosanne Cash occasionally strays from her country roots, but to her 'It's all music'

In the early days of Rosanne Cash's music career, her father - the legendary Johnny Cash - wanted to provide a foundation and thorough understanding of country music. So he wrote out by hand a list of 100 bedrock staples specific to the genre.

Rosanne Cash will play songs from that list, as well as selections from her recent career-spanning retrospective CD set "The Essentials," in two intimate acoustic shows in the suburbs this weekend. Accompanied by guitarist Jon Leventhal, Cash appears Friday at College of DuPage's McAninch Arts Center, and Saturday in Elgin Community College's Blizzard Theatre.

"I love country music, but I don't bow to one genre ... it's all music," said Cash, during a phone conversation. "The main lesson I learned from my father is the work ethic. He didn't really give a darn about the music business at all. It was the creation of the music and his work that mattered. If the music has to be funneled through the keyhole of the music industry, then that's the way it is. It's the music that gets out."

Cash has quietly built a solid musical legacy over the last few decades as a songwriter, performer and Grammy Award winner.

The 1990 release of "Interiors" is a prime example of her approach. A decidedly non-country album and considered a masterpiece, it foreshadowed the eventual break-up of her marriage to fellow country musician and producer, Rodney Crowell. The depictions of disintegrating relationships and raw emotional content still make for a harrowing listen, even today.

"How were the songs done? I'm a writer, and people assumed that it was factual, which it was, but there was a poetic license involved too," said Cash. "As an artist, if you can't create something out of personal disaster, then when can you?"

The departure from her country pop roots was met with critical approval, and meager sales, while initiating a new direction for her talents. She has pursued a side-career as a writer by concocting fiction pieces and essays for numerous periodicals.

The CD release of "The List" (2009) featured 12 songs from her father's original choices, and includes guest duets from Bruce Springsteen, Elvis Costello, Jeff Tweedy and Rufus Wainwright.

"We do about five of them in the show, and audiences really respond to 'Long, Black Veil' … they're familiar with the versions done by The Band, Lefty Frizell, and of course, my father. That covers a lot of demographics," she said. "Another one is Bob Dylan's 'Girl From The North Country.' The song comes off 'Nashville Skyline' and it was a very important album, when it came out, a real landmark."

The current fall tour is also spurring another collection of songs, tentatively slated for a November 2012 release date. "It's a new project, with new songs, and we've lined up T-Bone Burnett to produce it. We haven't begun recording yet, since he's committed to another session.

"For now, we're just looking forward to playing out the tour, and these two stops in Elgin and Glen Ellyn. I've always loved the Chicagoland area, and Chicago is a great music town to play in."