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Artist Detial at Mystic Theatre
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Grievous Angel - The Legend of Gram Parsons

Upcoming Shows: October 16

Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons is a musical play about the original cosmic cowboy, who lived fast, died young and left a charred corpse. The creative force behind some of the most important recordings of the late ‘60s and early ’70s, Parsons pioneered country rock with The Byrds’ Sweetheart of the Rodeo, schooled the Rolling Stones in American roots music, created The Flying Burrito Brothers and recorded two classic solo albums, GP and Grievous Angel, with his musical protégé, Emmylou Harris.

He never had a hit record and never became a star in his lifetime, but Parsons is today hailed as a patron saint of alt-country and Americana. His influence is acknowledged by artists as disparate as Keith Richards, Elvis Costello, Steve Earle, Norah Jones, Beck, Tom Petty, Ryan Adams, Wilco, Lucinda Williams, Dwight Yoakam, REM and the Black Crowes. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked him #87 on their list of the 100 Most Influential Artists of All Time. Gram has been the subject of five biographies, four tribute albums and a documentary film.

Along with his extraordinary talent, great looks, charisma and heartbreaking voice, Gram had a death wish—to go out, like his hero, Hank Williams, in a haze of glory. On Sept. 19, 1973, in a cheap motel on the edge of the Mojave Desert, Parsons OD’d on morphine and tequila. He was 26. But in death, his tale took another bizarre turn when his road manager, Phil Kaufman, stole his body from Los Angeles airport, took it to the desert and burned it. A rock legend was born.

Grievous Angel: The Legend of Gram Parsons was inspired by Michael Bate’s March 1973 interview with the doomed singer in Boston. It was Parsons’ last recorded conversation. The two-act show, written, produced and directed by Bate, stars Anders Drerup as Gram and Kelly Prescott as Emmylou Harris. Music by Gram Parsons, the Rolling Stones, Hank Williams, the Louvin Brothers, Chris Hillman, Chris Ethridge, Merle Haggard, Bob Dylan, Dan Penn, Elvis Presley, Ric Grech, Emmylou Harris and Bob Buchanan.