Like most people, I first saw and heard of Leon Redbone in 1977 when he appeared on “Saturday Night Live.” I was 13 years old and remember thinking at the time “this guy is different.” I had no idea that over 30 years I would promote more than 50 shows with him in 15 venues, but the best part was I became friends with him and always appreciated our time together.
I started promoting concerts in 1983, when I was 18. Back in those days without internet and email, you had to call agents and build a relationship. If they liked you and you did a good job for their act, you would be that agent’s go-to person for all their shows. One of those great relationships I had was with Elizabeth Rush. I promoted several of her acts including Roger McGuinn, Donovan, Richard Thompson, The Roches and comedian Sam Kinison.
She also represented Leon Redbone, that guy on “Saturday Night Live.” She warned me that he was very private. That was not a problem for me; I give artists their space at my shows and at that time—being an 18-year-old, 110-pound kid with braces—I did not want them to feel uncomfortable that a goofy-looking kid as their promoter. I booked Leon into Century Hall, UW-Milwaukee’s Wisconsin Room, many times at Shank Hall, a really fun show in the park for Bastille Days and later on for RiverSplash. I put together Wisconsin tours with Leon and another favorite, Leo Kottke. These were fun shows. Leon and Leo appreciated each other’s sense of humor. We used to flip a coin to see who would go first and the loser had to close as neither wanted to follow the other.
I always loved Leon’s shows. We would soon become at ease with each other and as time went by we became friends. We had the same odd sense of humor and, even though I heard his jokes and routine on stage many times, I still laughed like I just heard it. We would go out to dinner before a show and he called me up to go to breakfast the morning after. I invited him over to my house once to see my pets and rather than talking about my Macaw, he loved taking pictures of my cat Oliver.
Leon really enjoyed performing. It had to be part of his shtick, but at every sound check he would search the whole venue for a perfect armless chair for himself—whatever the venue suggested was never good enough and he had to find one himself. At a Stevens Point concert, Leo was talking on stage about Leon (who had just finished) and the audience started laughing hysterically. Leo had this bewildered look on his face. He finally turned around and saw that Leon had put his cane through an opening in the curtain and was twirling his hat!
When my wife Karen and I were in New York for her family Christmas in 2015, I decided we should visit Leon and his wife Beryl. We took a train and subway, and Beryl picked us up at the station to drive to their home in eastern Pennsylvania. It was such an honor that she invited us to their home—sort of like being allowed to look behind the curtain and see the wizard of Oz. We had a great visit. He played guitar and we went shopping. At an antique store, Karen told him to not stand in one place too long: someone might buy you! He laughed. I sat in the back seat of the car as Beryl drove us back to the train station. As I got out of the car, Leon said, “Thank you for visiting, please come back again.”
That was the last time I saw him. Next year when we returned, he was already in a place where he did not see visitors, but we had a nice visit with Beryl.
I have been blessed with many things, among them promoting and becoming friends with Leon Redbone. Without knowing Leon, I could have gone through life not knowing what a zither was. I was so happy to still stay in touch with Beryl and know that she and her daughters will keep Leon’s legacy going and growing because future generations need to hear him and his presentation of musical history.
