Woke up this morning to some sad news, that my friend Barry Welch aka as the online persona Chief Broom, had passed away back on March 1. I had a gnawing suspicion for weeks, as my emails to him had gone unanswered as had my phone calls and messages. And then one day the answering machine stopped picking up.
I drove by his house one day. His black BMW sat in the driveway next to a truck/camper combo. I knocked on the door and nobody answered. Now, he had been having problems with some DUIs so I kind of thought maybe he was back in jail. Or gone on vacation with someone who parked their camper in the driveway.
Finally, I asked an old friend who was a member of the Wheel, a online deadhead virtual community, and he confirmed what I had suspected, but had only found out a day earlier:
Oh my god.
We just got the news yesterday.
Barry died March 1st.
- Bill
Mon, 24 Apr 2006 13:25:18 -0500
We're back from the 2006 Old Settler's Music Festival, held Thu-Sun in
Driftwood TX just SW of Austin. I've only a moment for this note and
Wade hasn't had a chance to post anything yet, but I wanted to pass along
this news from Austin....
Barry Welch, aka chiefbroom, a special friend who we were looking forward
to sharing camptime with at Old Settler's, died March 1. August Welch,
Barry's son who he frequently touted in this forum, was not only in town
tending to Barry's lifetime of collected music and various memorabilia,
but used Barry's ticket to attend the show and hung out with us
throughout.
The festival's advertised highlight was a multi-media tribute to Vassar
Clements presented by Mike Marshall, who mixed classic video of Vassar
with various live stage lineups paying homage. It was impressive, but the
REAL highlight was the preceding set by the Peter Rowan/Tony Rice Quartet.
August had received a backstage pass when he picked Barry's ticket up,
and got to talk with Peter and Tony before they went on. Mid-set, Peter
dedicated a wonderful new tune to Barry's memory; from that point, the
whole set and show really turned to a Barry Welch tribute, and not just
from our point of view.
