Three Girls and Their Buddy at the Greek Theatre

Not long into her concert Wednesday night at the Greek Theatre, just as the sun was dipping below the horizon, Shawn Colvin sang a lovely version of Robbie Robertson’s “Twilight,” in which the narrator makes a pretty solid case that “twilight is the loneliest time of day.”

Good thing, then, that Colvin had some company to help stave off the isolation: Emmylou Harris, Patty Griffin and Buddy Miller all shared the spotlight Wednesday with the “Sunny Came Home” folkie; the four roots-music heavyweights are currently touring together as Three Girls and Their Buddy.

Like the uncluttered stage -- which featured four chairs, four microphones and a small assortment of mostly acoustic instruments -- the show’s setup was simple. For two hours the musicians took turns singing lead while accompanied (to varying degrees) by the other three. Harris, who served as the evening’s unofficial host, called it “this songwriters-in-the-round thing we’ve got going.”

They opened with an eerie ghost-gospel take on “To Know Him Is to Love Him,” an old Phil Spector tune that Harris first recorded with Dolly Parton and Linda Ronstadt for their 1987 album “Trio.” Harris dedicated the song Wednesday to Miller, explaining that she, Griffin and Colvin had taken to singing it onstage earlier this year after Miller suffered a heart attack and was forced to drop off their tour.

Recounting that experience later, Miller highly recommended triple-bypass surgery -- especially, he said, “if you can do without the heart attack.”

The artists’ banter was sometimes more entertaining than their playing: “I’m 45 years old and I’ve written two love songs in my life,” Griffin admitted before singing “Heavenly Day,” from her most recent album, 2007’s “Children Running Through.” (And the other one? “Our Love Is a Dud,” which Griffin also played, though not before copping to her fear of “being nominated for president of the Bitter Women of America Club.”)

The relaxed atmosphere gave the Greek the feel of somebody’s living room, which only increased the charm of material like Harris’ “Love and Happiness for You,” a ballad about the persistence of parenthood that Harris introduced by saying that her mother still insists she wear a bike helmet.

Yet the casual vibe also seemed to dampen the overall intensity of the show, as if the singers were merely marking their moves rather than investing fully in the music; only Colvin and Miller really raised the stakes, the former in a wound-tight cover of “Crazy” by Gnarls Barkley, the latter in a handful of down-and-dirty country blues such as “Gasoline and Matches,” from Miller’s excellent 2009 album with his wife, Julie, “Written in Chalk.”

Of course, intensity is only one of a performer’s tools; nearly as important are empathy, a sense of humor and the ability to tap a hand drum and sing backup at the same time, as Griffin did during Harris’ “Red Dirt Girl.”

“This is the best gig in the world,” Harris said at one point. Maybe, maybe not -- but you could tell that she believed it.

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