Live in 1978 is a concert recording from Emmylou Harris with Ricky Skaggs, documenting the Hot Band period when Skaggs served as Harris's lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist before departing to launch his solo career — a document of one of the most musically productive working partnerships in the country-rock and acoustic tradition. Harris plays guitar and sings; Skaggs plays mandolin, fiddle, and sings. The live format captures the ensemble energy that characterized Harris's touring shows during this period: a rock-influenced rhythm section supporting fiddle and acoustic instruments in the hybrid country-rock format that Harris had helped define since her Gram Parsons years. Skaggs's vocal contributions and instrumental work give these recordings an acoustic quality that foreshadows his own subsequent move toward traditional bluegrass.