Paul and I recently had the pleasure of spending an evening listening to Kris Kristofferson play and sing many of the songs he has written and performed through the years.  It was an honor to watch this man perform at 80 years of age.

If you’re my age you probably remember Kris from his rugged, raspy voice and his bad boy image.  Do you also remember him in the 1976 film, “A Star is Born“?  I remember I loved that movie at the time.

There are some things about Kris that I doubt many people know, but they help to define the man he is.  He received a Rhodes scholarship to study creative writing at Oxford University in England (no easy task), where he earned a Master’s degree in English Literature in 1960.

He returned to America, married and joined the Army like his father.  There he became a helicopter pilot and rose to the rank of captain.  Songwriting and singing remained his love though and he resigned his commission in 1965 to try to make it in the Nashville world.  From that time on he has worked in the music world writing and singing his songs and has even had the occasional movie role.

The years that he performed alongside Johnny Cash, Willie Nelson and Waylon Jennings as The Highwaymen are among my favorite memories of Kris Kristofferson.

On this evening Mr. Kristofferson walked on stage with his guitar and harmonica, no back-up band or singers, just this man and his guitar.  He’s always been slender, but he appeared thinner now and boasted a head full of snowy white hair.  Kris delighted the audience by singing for an hour and a half, one song after another.

And what a warm, receptive audience.  Everyone there seemed to be in love with this man and though they applauded loudly after each song, they were never loud and rude in any way.  The audience sang along softly with Kris on his most popular songs.  It was as if we were all showing respect to this man for his 80 years of life and nearly 50 years of performing.

It turned out to be a wonderful evening, well spent!

Thanks so much for stopping by and reading.  Have a great week!

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