Jerry Jeff Walker Memorial Concert to be Aired Live

photo: Kevin Smith

Legendary songwriter Jerry Jeff Walker passed away on October 23rd, 2020 due to throat Cancer, but never got a proper send off due to the COVID-19 pandemic. That will change on Saturday, June 5th when friends, fellow songwriters, and family will gather at Luckenbach, TX for a proper memorial concert. Those slated to appear include close friends Rodney Crowell, Steve Earle, and Jimmy Buffett among others.

The event sold out within minutes of being announced, but if you’re a die hard Jerry Jeff fan and still want to participate, you can. Audio from the event will be broadcast on both SiriusXM’s Margaritaville and Outlaw Country stations starting at 8 p.m. Central on Saturday, and on margaritaville.com. And for $10, you can purchase a ticket to stream video from the event at jerryjeff.bubbleup.live. The live stream is set to begin at 7 p.m. Saturday.

“While limited in-person tickets to the Jerry Jeff Walker Memorial Tribute have already sold out, we wanted to make sure that all of Jerry Jeff’s tried and true fans who did not get tickets could still experience this one-of-a-kind memorial,” Jerry Jeff’s family said.

Proceeds from the event will go toward the creation of life-sized bronze statues of both Jerry Jeff Walker and his close friend and Luckenbach “Imagineer” Hondo Crouch, who purchased the Hill Country haven in 1970. The mystique of the hideaway led to Walker recording his landmark 1973 album Viva Terlingua at the property, including live cuts recorded in the Luckenbach Dancehall itself.

Jerry Jeff Walker was born in New York State, but following the Texas credo that if you’re not born there, you get there as fast as you can, Walker would take his prestige from writing the classic “Mr. Bojangles” and become one of the primary catalysts for creating the world-class music scene in Austin, TX in the early 70’s that would later launch Willie Nelson and others to superstardom.

A guy known as a songwriter became known as a guy who shouted out and recorded some of the greatest songs from other songwriters of the time such as Ray Wylie Hubbard, Rodney Crowell, Townes Van Zandt, Guy Clark, helping to put them on the national map.

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