04.14.2019
GARY STEWART
This morning’s brief promise of Spring was punctured by the news of the passing of Gary Stewart.
It is rare enough to find people of insight, kindness and loyalty but Gary had all these qualities in abundance. Friends have called or written all today trying to make sense of the impossible and the inexplicable.
As the vocation of criticism has become more fragmented, spiteful and distracted, so people with Gary’s gift for advocacy needed to be valued. His appreciation of our work was immensely generous and deeply informed by personal emotion. With his help, I was encouraged to tell a broader tale as we compiled my catalogue for release on Rhino Records, augmenting the original albums with every outtake, sketch and mistake that I could find, all annotated until I’d run out of paper and ink.
Our work together was clearly superior to both prior and subsequent editions.
It is equally rare to find a music website with genuine passion and curiosity as the one Gary helped found; Trunkworthy – giving contributors space to both celebrate and disagree but offering the reader a chance to make one after another invaluable discovery.
When Gary took up curation duties at Apple, he sent me a series of playlists using an existing template from best known to rarest choices. I could not have disagreed with any of his selections, even though we both knew that on another day, half of the songs might have had different titles and that’s the way it should be.
As an illustration of Gary’s generosity, when the Imposters and I brought our “Imperial Bedroom & Other Chambers” tour to the Greek Theatre, Gary didn’t seek a place on the guest list to which he would have always been welcome but rather bought a stash of tickets to give to friends as that record had meant a lot to him and he wanted his pals to hear what we were up to with the songs after all these years. I even had to decline his offer of hosting a reception after the set, as I knew I had to sing the next night and talking into the small hours would be unwise. I know that when we return to the Greek in July, the band and I will pour a chaste glass and raise a toast to our friend.
This generosity extended beyond mere music business tributaries and blind alleys and into a sense of community and the desire and need to be of service. I know I am not alone in being grateful for having known and worked with Gary and send my deepest condolences to his family and all his many friends.