San Antonio ad for Feb.2014 concert
 

oh dear...
http://blog.mysanantonio.com/weekend...a-in-february/

Gordon (‘I’m not dead’) Lightfoot returning to S.A. in February

POSTED BY RJOHNSON
Monday, December 2 at 3:52pm
The legendary Canadian folkie, whose death was greatly exaggerated three years ago, plays the Majestic Theatre on Feb. 12.

Gordon Lightfoot must feel a bit like the famously not-dead man in the cart in the “bring out your dead” scene in “Monty Python and the Holy Grail.”

The 75-year-old Canadian folksinger was in a dentist’s office in 2010 — not long after his most recent visit to San Antonio — when he heard the news of his death on the radio. The obit, the result of a hoax that began on Twitter (of course), was being read with the strains of “If You Could Read My Mind” playing in the background.

“It gave me a bit of a shock,” Lightfoot told the Houston Chronicle’s Andrew Dansby in an interview. ” I had to make some quick telephone calls.”

Lightfoot, who had a real, no-joke, extended close encounter with the grim reaper in 2002 (which probably made the hoax more believable), is still writing and touring 50 years after his career began in the early ’60s, when the likes of Peter, Paul & Mary and Ian & Sylvia recorded his “Early Morning Rain.” On Feb. 12, he’ll return to the Majestic Theatre, where he played during his last visit to S.A. four years ago. Tickets go on sale Friday.

It continues a remarkable comeback for the Canadian legend, who nearly died from a ruptured abdominal aneurysm that left him in a coma for weeks in 2002 and who was slowed by a mini-stroke in 2006 that for a time cost him the use of two fingers on his right hand — not a cool thing for a fingerpicking folksinger. Fortunately, he has regained full use of his hand.

His work ethic remains unchanged. Asked in 2009 by Express-News staffer Jim Beal Jr. whether he had considered retiring from the road and just writing songs full time, he replied, “I could, of course, but I have a lot of other responsibilities. I want to keep my tours up. I played bars and lounges when I was starting out. I’ve always been a performer and I’ll always be a performer.”

(NOTE: “He’s still alive?” was the response of at least two staffers upon hearing of the concert announcement. Uh, yes. Don’t think it’ll be a tribute act featuring his band playing behind a Lightfoot-esque mannequin tied to a stool).