Michael Gaither

I remember KPIG Radio’s Ralph Anybody telling the story of a call from a listener: “Can you play that song by that guy from Texas?” “Which guy?” “You know, the one who has three names”.

Okay, that makes up half the Texas artists in KPIG’s music library. If you’re a KPIG listener, you could rattle off those names as easily as I could. Two of them, however, just left us pretty much back to back in less than a week. In a year of extreme weirdness – and extreme loss – these seem to hit harder than others.

Jerry Jeff Walker passed on Thursday, October 22nd at the age of 78 after a long battle with throat cancer. Best known for penning the classic – and well covered – “Mr. Bojangles,” Jerry Jeff released nearly 40 albums in a career that started in the mid-1960s.

Billy Joe Shaver died this morning, on October 28th, of a stroke.  Shaver referred to himself as a “songwriter first…” He wrote most of Waylon Jennings breakthrough record “Honky Tonk Heroes” and went on to write for Kris Kristofferson, Johnny Cash, Elvis Presley, and Willie Nelson. Willie was a particularly close friend of Billy Joe’s, and pushed him to “get back up on the horse” and keep performing after his son, Eddie Joe Shaver, died from a heroin overdose in 2000.

Both Jerry Jeff and Billy Joe were part of the Outlaw Country movement in the 1970s, which had its roots in blues and honky tonk and was a deliberate move from the Nashville sound of the time. It was also a HUGE part of KFAT Radio, which evolved into the KPIG we know and love today. They were also heroes and influences to a next generation of songwriters – this writer included – who would continually try to reach the bar that they set for us.

So dig out those “Vinyl Records” (as Todd Snider would say), fire up your favorite listening device, or (better yet), tune into KPIG and request your favorite Jerry Jeff Walker and Billy Joe Shaver tunes. Let’s remember the lifetime of work these two amazing artists blessed us all with.

Ya know, maybe it’s the stress of COVID19 and being Sheltered In Place. The anxiety of fires literally hitting close to home. Or the “everyone’s wound too tight”-ness up the upcoming election. But it feels like music loss is at an extreme in 2020. Maybe that’s because while being physically disconnected these past nine months, we’ve had music (well, okay, and Zoom) to keep us connected. When we lose one of those artists, particularly at a time like this, it’s a hard hit. Losing two so quickly? That just hits a little harder.

This year’s In Memoriam reel is going to be big. And a tune from either Jerry Jeff Walker or Billy Joe Shaver will be the perfect soundtrack. “Live Forever,” indeed.