Merle Haggard Archives - Andy May Music

Remembering Merle Haggard

R.I.P. Merle Haggard – American Music Icon

Back in 1978, I had the honor to open a show for Merle Haggard and his band. It was one of the highlights of my professional life, and I got to share it with my good friend and former band mate, Tabby Crabb. Here’s a newspaper ad for that show.

We were huge fans of Merle’s music, and he and his band were in top form that night. And, they made us feel welcome – which made the day even more memorable. That experience was part of the inspiration for my song, Haggard and the Queen, that I wrote years later. ⇨ Read more

The Andy May – Texas Tabby Crabb Band

Tabby and I started out as friends who liked a lot of the same music and that was the attitude and blend of music that we presented to our audience. We mixed songs that were popular at the time with timeless country classics, blues, Old-Timey Southern fiddle tunes, bluegrass standards and New England traditional dance tunes. ⇨ Read more

Andy May & Kenny Kosek- NY Folklore Center - 1967- Photo by Jack Prelutsky

Early On – A Kid in New York

New York in the 1960’s was a fabulous place to be for a young guitar nut. There were great players like Dave VanRonk appearing at venues where even an under-age guy could go. Then, there were folks like Doc Watson coming to town! I remember hearing Doc and Reverend Gary Davis jamming backstage at a hall…that was really something! ⇨ Read more