Linden, Texas
Don Henley will be appearing at the Texas Music City Theatre on Septmber 14th. If you will be going to the show or have questions about the show, hit the comments button below and add a message.
Don Henley will be appearing at the Texas Music City Theatre on Septmber 14th. If you will be going to the show or have questions about the show, hit the comments button below and add a message.
Linden venue lures top musicians
By Bill Hanna
Star-Telegram Staff Writer
LINDEN -- The red-brick exterior of the Music City Texas Theater doesn't look like a magnet for classic rockers.
But this small 420-seat theater in an out-of-the way corner of Northeast Texas appears on the way to becoming one.
It started in June, when Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee Jackson Browne performed here. He chatted with fans, took requests and posed for photos with fans.
"It was like seeing Jackson Browne in your living room," said Richard Bowden, the theater's president and a professional musician.
Now the town's abuzz with the return this week of Linden native Don Henley. The Eagles mainstay is playing his hometown Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since the 1960s. The shows are sold out.
"It's pretty huge for this town," Bowden said, "It's almost unheard of for him to play a place this small. All of the town's ladies are making a big fuss, wanting to make food. Everyone really thinks it's neat that he hasn't forgotten his roots."
While it doesn't look like much from the outside, this down-home concert venue begins to cast its spell once you step inside.
A simple stage, with fake torches and a backdrop of the East Texas Piney Woods, lets the audience pretend that they're at a campfire concert.
Exposed beams give the place a homey, laid-back feel.
The driving force behind the theater is the 58-year-old Bowden, who played with Henley at the theater in the 1960s before both left town to chase their rock 'n' roll dreams in the group Shiloh.
They became part of Linda Ronstadt's backup band before Henley formed the Eagles. Bowden moved to Nashville, where he started the musical comedic duo Pinkard and Bowden.
After the duo disbanded, Bowden came home in 1999. He soon became involved in developing the theater and won a seat on the City Council.
But he didn't completely give up his rock 'n' roll connections.
He talked Browne, one of his best friends, into appearing as grand marshal at the town's Wildflower Trails Festival in 2002.
When Bowden showed the California musician the theater where he and Henley played as teen-agers, Browne quickly agreed to do a show.
"He told us, 'When you get it done, I'll come back and do a show for free,'" Bowden said
The June concert raised $30,000 for the nonprofit theater.
The Henley shows, which are also being performed for free, promise to raise far more.
And Browne has tentatively agreed to come back next year. Bowden is also holding out hope that Jimmy Buffett will come to the theater sometime next year.
But he admits that Buffet having "a No. 1 album on the country charts isn't helping me any."
Besides big names like Browne and Henley, Bowden hosts monthly shows at the venue with his band. Other acts such as Cajun singer Jo-El Sonnier and country singer T. Graham Brown are scheduled.
For Linden, located about 200 miles northeast of Fort Worth, music is becoming the way to reverse the town's sagging economy. The 2000 Census ranked Cass County the 71st poorest out of Texas' 254 counties.
"It's difficult in a small town to do a whole lot with industry like Toyota or GM," Linden Mayor Wilford Penny said. "We got acreage to put a plant in, but we can't get anybody to accept it."
With the Henley concert, music lovers from as far away as England and Japan are making their way to this corner of Texas between Texarkana and Marshall.
Besides Henley, blues legend T-Bone Walker is a native son, and ragtime composer Scott Joplin was born just outside of town. Gene Autrey's backing band, the Cass County Boys, also originated here.
Eventually, residents would like to raise enough money to open a music museum and construct an amphitheater, which they hope would attract a motel for the town of 2,256. For now, anyone attending a concert has to stay 10 miles down the road in Atlanta.
"When Richard and these other guys wanted to take that old building and start working on it, a lot of the locals just laughed," said Russell Wright, 61, executive director of the Linden Economic Development Corp.
"But when they saw how serious they were, they came out and started helping them. Now everyone believes we can make this happen."
By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News
LINDEN, Texas – It took nearly half a century, but Don Henley is finally coming full circle.
Mr. Henley is hardly a stranger in his hometown, which is hidden deep in the piney woods of East Texas. He's helped buy up aging storefronts on the town square and pay for the restoration of the Cass County Courthouse, which was built in 1860.
But when the 57-year-old co-founder of the Eagles takes the stage tonight at Music City Texas Theater, it will mark the first time since the 1960s that Linden's most famous son has given a concert here.
"I'm sure it's going to be fairly emotional, due to the mere fact that this is where Don cut his teeth musically," says Richard M. Bowden, 58, a lifelong friend of Mr. Henley's and president of the 420-seat Music City Texas Theater, which sold out within hours of tickets going on sale.
For Mr. Henley, it's a chance to return to the town he loves and visits often.
"Small towns all over America are struggling, not necessarily to grow, but to merely survive," says Mr. Henley, via e-mail while he travels on a national tour. "The little town I come from is no different and anything I can do to help boost the local economy, I will gladly do."
The venue itself promises to bring a bolt of déjà vu. When Mr. Henley was a kid, the building housing Music City Texas Theater was the American Legion Hall.
He remembers being part of a musical recital there when he was "only 4 or 5." He remembers playing on its stage when he was in high school, and "kids would come from all over the area to listen to our band and dance. Our parents would man the ticket booth and the concession stand. The local constable would act as security. Things are, of course, very different now, but in some way, I guess you could say it's the completion of a circle."
A member of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, Mr. Henley will take the cramped stage tonight with six musicians playing behind him.
Among the absent friends who can't be in attendance tonight or Wednesday are Mr. Henley's mom, who passed away last year, and his beloved high school English teacher, Margaret Lovelace, who died just a few weeks ago.
"She meant a lot to me," says Mr. Henley. "During my high school years, I thrived in her class because I felt like she understood me and she encouraged me."
Those lucky enough to attend should get to hear "Talking to the Moon," Mr. Henley's song about small-town life, which a certain town in East Texas inspired.
Russell Wright, executive director of the Linden Economic Development Corporations, says residents feel warmly toward Mr. Henley, for reasons that have more to do with gratitude than fame or pride. The singer helped preserve Linden's municipal hospital and courthouse and recently bought up several aging buildings in a town hurt by urbanization and by a Wal-Mart Supercenter 14 miles away in Atlanta.
Mr. Henley first learned to play the drums with the Linden-Kildare band, whose new uniforms he bought several years ago. He has also made donations to the school's library.
"Around here, Don Henley's music is ageless," says Linden-Kildare High School principal Mark Smith. "Even our youngest kids understand who he is and the contribution he's made to music. They're excited and proud to say Don Henley is from Linden, Texas, and that he's coming back to give us a concert."
By MICHAEL GRANBERRY / The Dallas Morning News
LINDEN, Texas – Few concerts will ever come close to matching the emotion or the grace of the one Don Henley gave here in his hometown on Wednesday night.
"I'm so happy to be home," he announced as he took the stage at the 420-seat Music City Texas Theater, where he first appeared as a "4- or 5-year-old" reading "Little Jack Horner" during a recital at what was then known as the American Legion Hall.
"I didn't like it then, and I don't like it now," he said of "Little Jack Horner." "My parents said I recited it with a frown, stomped my foot and walked off the stage."
That same energy and anger has long fueled Mr. Henley's work, both as a solo artist and with the Eagles. He opened with "Dirty Laundry," his indictment about the media, and finished his first encore with the rousing rock song "I Will Not Go Quietly."
But this is also a man with enormous sensitivity and passion, whether his concern is the environment (such as efforts to preserve Henry David Thoreau's Walden Woods or Mr. Henley's treasured boyhood retreat, Caddo Lake) or his hometown.
For the duration of two shows, Tuesday and Wednesday nights, the love between hometown boy made good and those who remember him – even as far back as "Little Jack Horner" days – wasn't just obvious. It was infectious. It made these shows extraordinarily special and something you rarely see on a concert stage.
Mr. Henley, 57, shares in common with Lyle Lovett and Willie Nelson not only his Texas heritage but also a rare storytelling ability. Mixing one-liners with poignant emotion, he told terrific tales about "Sunset Grill," "Witchy Woman" and "Talking to the Moon," which was co-written with fellow small-town Texan John David Souther.
He drew a knowing shout from the crowd when he sang "that same small town in each of us" during "The End of the Innocence." And he closed with "Desperado," which he dedicated to his mom, who passed away last year in Linden.
"If we all stick together and use our heads, we can lift this county up," he said, praising the efforts of boyhood friend Richard M. Bowden, the president of Music City Texas Theater, to use music as a way of restoring the battered small town's dignity and pride.
Mr. Henley said he hoped to lure Jimmy Buffett, Emmylou Harris and Bonnie Raitt to the same small stage where he and Jackson Browne have already performed. And if he and Mr. Bowden are successful, is there any concert venue in Dallas – or anywhere in the country, for that matter – that can claim the same?
By ANTHONY DAVIS
Texarkana Gazette
LINDEN, Texas-Don Henley's return to his hometown this week to perform two sold-out shows at Music City Texas Theater was much more than a favor to his lifelong friend and teenage bandmate, Richard Bowden.
Tuesday and Wednesday night's shows were alternately tender and gripping as Henley relived musically his days playing at the Linden American Legion Hall to his road to California gold and back again. Forty-plus years of romantic memories and harsh realities have found the singer/songwriter arriving full-circle back into the hearts of the people and community who raised him.
Henley took the stage dressed in cowboy boots, black jeans and a plaid shirt with pearl snaps rolled up to the elbows. With his reddish-brown hair styled in a contemporary crew-cut, Henley was 17 again instead of 57.
And when he opened his two-hour performance with "Dirty Laundry" it was clear he's had enough of what others think of him beyond his Cass County "family." There, he is just Don. Mr. and Mrs. Henley's boy. And he's done good.
He had been on the Texas Music City stage before, long before it was transformed into the venue it is today. His memories of the place go back more than 50 years.
"This will always be the Legion Hall to me. I was four or five years old when I set foot on this stage for the first time in Mrs. Robertson's music class. I had to recite 'Little Jack Horner.' I didn't like that poem. I don't like it today," Henley said, smiling at the audience after the opening number.
Henley has already established himself as a crusader for environmental causes with his work to protect Walden's Pond, and, more locally, with the preservation of Caddo Lake. Now he has focused his attention on his hometown and surrounding community. Positive things have begun to occur in this small, East Texas town that financial progress left behind.
Russell Wright, president of the Linden Economic Development Council, credits the attempts by Henley and Bowden to restore the historical and music history value of Linden and Cass County as a long-term tourism draw and economic boost to the community.
"We could never afford the amount of positive press we have received as a town and community without them. That, in itself, has been worth thousands of dollars in today's market," Wright said. "I would hasten to say that to most of the people of Linden, the love and respect they have for Don is not because he's a world-renowned, famous rocker, but because of his love and respect for the people here," Wright said.
"Whether it's the problems we have had concerning the possible closing of the hospital or the proposal to restore the courthouse, Don has come riding to the rescue with his legal team and resources and put them onto the problem," he said. "He has personally come to Linden on several occasions to lead the charge, and he's committed himself to making it happen."
Henley spoke often from the stage Wednesday as he shared with the audience where he or his mind were at different points in his career.
In his early years in California, Henley found solace in an out-of-the-way burger "joint" where the immigrant owner took pride in making every cheeseburger the quintessential, melt-in-your-mouth, juicy, run-down-your-arm kind of burger Don was used to from back home. The burger joint, which was closed down after the owner had a motorcycle accident in his seventies, reminded him of the small businessmen he grew up respecting-like his father. It was the inspiration for "Sunset Grill."
Henley now has a vision for downtown Linden. He has bought several abandoned business properties with the idea of restoring them to a 1930's-look to complement the look and feel of the remodeled courthouse, the centerpiece of downtown Linden.
"Don's vision for Linden and Cass County will also have a long-term effect on our quality of life," Wright said. "He has purchased a number of downtown buildings and will renovate them to make the properties more attractive for use."
Something that has been reserved for private discussions, but which he brought up during his show, is the plan to establish a Cass County Music Museum. There are a whole lot of famous musicians from Cass County.
"Don has had a huge impact on the community. We know we can't compete for industry with Texarkana and Longview," Wright said. "Music City Texas is the cornerstone of music tourism. We want people to come out to Linden and see the stars, and I'm not talking about just the performers. We are trying to attract retirees to the quality of living in this environment as a bedroom community."
Henley brought up his youthful, more adventurous days in Southern California in the late 60s and early 70s several times while explaining to the audience that all of his songs don't have a special "meaning." He described a 70s culture where the "Age of Aquarius" still had a foothold and beautiful women asked about "your sign." From one such encounter Henley was inspired to write the song "Witchy Woman."
"Now this one was 20 years later," he said when "Witchy Woman" ended.
He then sang "New York Minute," a heartbreaker of a song about a failed relationship, the subject of several of his popular songs. He then put his excellent side-musicians through their paces with "Last Worthless Evening," "Must Not Be Drinkin' Enough," "Heart of the Matter," "Boys of Summer," "Life in the Fast Lane," "All She Wants To Do Is Dance" and two hits that seemed to encapsulate his later career reflections-"End of the Innocence" and "I Will Not Lie Down."
Henley's talents have given him worldwide popularity and exposure to all the advantages and disadvantages of scrutiny by American popular culture. There have been times, reflected in his songwriting, when his head has been turned in different directions. But his decision to cling to the people of Linden despite the death of his only remaining blood-tie, his mother, is clearly sincere in his words and actions.
"People tend to look at him as a famous rock star, but the people around here have watched he and Richard grow up," Wright said. "Richard and his wife, Karen, have become totally active in the community, socially and politically, with Richard now serving as a city council member.
"Don has a very clear vision of what he would like to see happen for Linden and Cass County, but there are still pockets of political resistance which I don't really understand. He is an absolute perfectionist and very detail-oriented, just like he was with the Walden Pond and Caddo Lake projects. We have a big debt of gratitude to repay to Don."
The Music City Texas Theater page has two nice photos of Don from the recent concerts. Check them out!
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