Conversation Part 1: Bobby Bridger

Bobby Bridger is legendary for having written the anthem for the Kerrville Music Festival (which has happened in the Texas hill country for 50 years )and his epic poems and stage presentations of the West.

A recent illness involving his throat made this audio post a special gift to those who love his work. We ended part one when he “ran outta voice”, but part two came back even stronger. He is still performing, writing, producing audio recordings, and creating visual arts. This post touches on Michael Martin Murphy, Simon and Garfunkel, Willie Nelson, Jerry Jeff Walker, and many more.

His passion for an artist’s life and mission are obvious and entertaining.

This info from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. . .

Bobby Bridger (born Robert Durham in Columbia, Louisiana March 14, 1945) is a singer/songwriter/poet/actor/playwright/author, and painter who for three decades has traveled the globe performing a trilogy of one-man shows for audiences in America, Canada, Europe, Australia, and Russia. He has recorded numerous albums for labels including Monument Records, RCA, and Golden Egg Records. On television, he appeared twice (1976[1] and 1978[2]) in the early years of PBS‘s “Austin City Limits“, on American Experience on PBS, and on ABC’s “Good Morning America“, A & E and C-SPAN, as well as on NPR on radio. He is the composer of “Heal In The Wisdom”, the official anthem of the Kerrville Folk Festival .

Bridger has been an artist-in-residence at the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody, WY., the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT, the John G. Neihardt Center in Bancroft, NE, and Yellowstone National Park. Bridger starred in Dale Wasserman‘s groundbreaking musical, Shakespeare and The Indians, and was featured with David Carradine and Will Sampson in the drama Black Elk Speaks. Full company productions of Bridger’s Seekers of the Fleece ran for eight consecutive summer seasons in Wyoming. He is the author of the award-winning book, Buffalo Bill and Sitting Bull: Inventing The Wild West (ISBN 978-0-292-70917-1), An Autobiography, Bridger (ISBN 978-0-292-71904-0), Where the tall Grass Grows (ISBN 978-1-55591-454-7), and [[A Ballad of the West]] and contributed essays to anthologies on western icons Frank Waters and John G. Neihardt as, well as numerous magazine and newspaper features. He is the subject of the documentary film “Quest Of An Epic Balladeer” and a DVD production of live performances of his trilogy of one-man shows was released in 2005. He is the 2016 recipient of the John G. Neihardt Foundation’s prestigious “Word Sender” Award. In 2019 Bridger produced an audiobook of Vine Deloria Jr.’s classic, The World We Used to Live In: Remembering the Powers of the Medicine Men.

Enjoy everyone… It is a real treat to talk with Bobby and hear his history and ideas.