The lord of the highway

Joe Ely is gone. He died this week at home in Taos. He was 78. 

His music is as authentically American as any you'll ever hear. And you won't find many better storytellers, either. 

I caught his act twice, 30 years apart, and loved it both times. The first was with a sweaty, rocking Texas band – at the Pine Street Theater, I think it was – in the mid-1980s. That was my introduction. In the 2010's I caught him in an acoustic duo at Mississippi Studios. We laughed a lot, and cried a little. 

If you're interested and never heard the guy, I've got two places for you to start: the albums Lord of the Highway and Letter to Laredo. From there, as Ely noted, "the road goes on forever, and the party never ends." Rest well, troubadour.