Hey Porter!                           Friday, November 23

The year was 1983.  Angel Dean (far right), Sue Garner next to her and me in that oh so 80's black hat made a pilgrimage to see Porter Wagoner play a NY show. 

In the early 80's there was a real influx of Southerners into my New York City life.  It was like they were conjured up by all the Flannery O'Connor, Carson McCullers and Eudora Welty I had been reading. They brought recipes for fried chicken and cornbread, real skill at thrift store and flea market shopping and a lot of music I had never heard before.

Sue made me tapes of the Carter Family, the Blue Sky Boys and the Louvin Brothers.  Angel was a big fan of Porter Wagoner (note vintage songbook in her hand) and when I heard "The Cold Hard Facts of Life" I was hooked too.

There weren't a whole lot of people at the Lone Star. But Porter put a lot into it, and the experience of seeing an actual country artist I'd only heard on record, right there in front of me on the sophisticated corner of 13th Street & 5th Avenue, was really memorable. Afterwards, we cornered him in the stairwell for a photo - I wish I could remember who was holding the camera?