City Winery Philadelphia lineup gets juicier: Emmylou Harris, Mountain Goats and Josh Ritter to play opening weekend of new Center City venue

The City Winery Philadelphia lineup just got juicier.

The new $8 million music venue, restaurant and winery that’s part of a mini-chain owned by entrepreneur and Knitting Factory co-founder Micheal Dorf is set to open this month at 10th and Filbert Streets.

The club — which is actually two venues in one a la the World Cafe Live in West Philly, with one room seating 350 and another 150 — had already announced a full slate of shows, starting with Justin Townes Earle on Sept. 30 and including such highlights as The Flatlanders on Nov. 15 and Los Lobos on Dec. 15 and 16.

It turns out though, that JT Earle won’t be the opening night act after all. Instead, it’s the great country harmony singer Emmylou Harris.

The Americana doyenne — who PBS viewers will see plenty of in Ken Burns’ epic Country Music history which premieres on Sept. 15 — will be the first act in the main room on Sept. 27. The show is a benefit for Bonaparte’s Retreat, the Nashville dog rescue organization Harris founded in 2004.

After that Friday night opening, there are two other new announced headliners that weekend, with a pair of dudes who write excellent songs with lot of words (and are both novelists as well as songwriters).

On Sept. 28, it’s the John Darnielle-fronted Mountain Goats, the favorites of Stephen Colbert whose members include home grown drummer and comedian Jon Wurster and whose new album In League With Dragons is inspired by super nerdy board game Dungeons & Dragons.

The next night’s headliner is Josh Ritter, the Idahoan songwriter who released one of the strongest albums of his 20-year career this spring in Fever Breaks, which which was produced by Americana hero Jason Isbell and features the guitarist and his band the 400 Unit.

Earle, who is no songwriting slouch and has a new album of his own called The Saint of Lost Causes, then carries the opening weekend into the work week with a show on Monday the 30th.

Tickets are on sale now for the club’s Vinofile members and are available to the public on Friday. More info is available of the City Winery’s Facebook page. The rest of the lineup can be found at citywinery.com/philadelphia.