Brings to mind that old Michael Hurley tune, Blue Navigator. And while you’re at it, check out Wildegeeses, which is perhaps the better soundtrack for this photo. The man was making “Americana” music long before it became known as such. Truly an American original, both a wonderful musician and visual artist (those are his paintings on his album covers); all in all, a real treasure.
Long ago, I shared a stage with him, at Tuner’s Bar in St. Albans VT. He had asked, very politely, if he could go up on one of our breaks. He proceeded to wrap a sheet around his body and a towel around his head, and went off into ten minutes of something or other – I got to wondering if we would ever get the stage back. I happened to be standing next to a woman at the bar who turned out to be his girlfriend; she had some tomatoes and said “You know, I was supposed to throw these at him, but I don’t think I can do it.”