Better Days #171 :

The Gathering

Thursday, June 9th, 2005
10:00 pm - 12:00 am PDST
CFRO 102.7 FM

Listen: www.coopradio.org

An American original, songwriter Mickey Newbury died
in September 2002 after a lengthy and courageous battle
with emphysema. Known for such classic albums as Looks
Like Rain and Frisco Mabel Joy, Newbury flew just below
the radar of outright stardom. But among contemporaries,
nobody wanted to follow him at a guitar pull because Mick's
songs held listeners spellbound and were impossible to top.
He was known as a songwriter's songwriter, and was a man
who helped men like Kris Kristofferson and Townes
Van Zandt get their first breaks in the business. In his Hall
of Fame acceptance speech, Kristofferson thanked Mickey,
and Jeanene Van Zandt, Townes' widow, dedicated one of
his posthumous releases to Mickey Newbury and family for
their love and support of Townes.

During his last years in Oregon, he started a website at
www.mickeynewbury.com and, while confined for the
most part to home and an oxygen machine, he developed
friendships with his fans and furthered his relationships
with longtime friends. He made himself available to people,
received visitors, and somehow managed to keep writing
new songs, some among his best ever. There is no more
heartrending record than A Long Road Home, one of
his last, an autobiographical masterwork.

Out of Newbury's website grew the first Mickey Newbury
Gathering. There were two while he was alive, one down
in Perdido and one in Oregon. Since his death there have
been two more Gatherings in Texas, and now a fifth one
is set to go for June 17-19, 2005 in Austin, Texas. These
events bring together his family, his friends, and those who
have come under the resonant spell of his music. They've
become, unofficially, a kind of songwriters' festival as well.

In June 2004, at Gathering IV, performers came from all
over the world to perform. The weekend concerts were
recorded digitally and, over the past year, tracks have been
carefully remixed and culled to form a two-cd set. The record
offers over two-and-a-half hours of remarkable performances
and will be officially released at this year's Gathering V down
in Texas. I happen to have an advance copy. It will form the
basis of Better Days 171, my last show before taking off for
the summer on a ten-week trip to Europe.

In the first quarter of the show I will feature the great new
Suit Yourself cd from Shelby Lynne. After that, I'll air
as much as there is time for from Gathering IV's two cd set.
A few of the artists I'll feature include Jonmark Stone,
Marie Rhines, Gage & Albert, Cowboy Johnson, Mike
Beck, Laura Shayne Newbury, Egbert Meyers, Chris
Fraser and Kacey Jones. Friends, all.

Tune in Thursday, June 9th, from ten o'clock until midnight,
Pacific Daylight Saving time, as I celebrate a uniquely moving
event of music-making, a tribute to Mickey Newbury. Oh, of
course, I'll play a song or two from the master as well. That's
on Better Days, episode 171, called The Gathering.

Join me, around the corner and around the world at
www.coopradio.org

DL