Tribute for Gary Rossington

     

     I was checking my Facebook posts and came across my friend Andrew Scotchies heartfelt tribute to Gary Rossington.  I was not aware that he had passed and I was very sad to learn of it.  I am fifty five years old and it is just the way of life that the ones the I enjoyed listening to and or watching would soon be leaving this earth.  I hate to admit that a lot of our great artists will soon no longer be with us. I read Andrews post and I felt his sadness and respect for Gary. I knew I wanted to post his tribute here on our website, a very fitting place for such words of praise.  Below is what Andrew wrote about Gary.
Lisa Bailey-Owens
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     A tribute to Gary Rossington and one of the greatest bands of all time.
It was 2003. I was 10 years old and well aware of Lynyrd Skynyrd. So naturally it felt like Christmas when my dad surprised me and my older brother Ryan with tickets he had won from a radio call in contest.

At the Littlejohn coliseum in Clemson, SC I experienced the show that would change my life forever. My first real dosage of the medicine known as live music.

The opening band was .38 Special but before the doors opened to the colosseum, there was a "yard band". That yard band was none other than the hard-driving funk masters, Mothers Finest. I remember the weather was causing the power onstage to fail a few times. That didn't stop Moses Mo MF and the crew from delivering an intoxicating set.

We had floor seats inside the colosseum but my dad, being the seasoned concert goer he was, knew how to slowly but surely slide us to the very front of the stage in the pit.

I can still remember the lights, the sound, that smell, the showmanship and most importantly feeling right at home with thousands of people I had never met in my entire life. I'll never forget that shared experience and the feeling of getting to hear your favorite songs played 10 feet in front of you.

I went to school the next day with my ears ringing and wearing Lynyrd Skynyrd shirt that fell down to my knees. That was it. It was quite clear at that point what I wanted to do with my life. A few weeks later my brother and I were taking guitar lessons at Musician's Workshop in Asheville.

Compared to Allen Collins, Gary was a little more physically stoic onstage but he delivered soaring, melodic riffs that struck you right in the heart. His conversational work on the guitar combined with Ronnie's brutally honest lyric's were just a few of the ingredients that made Skynyrd so potent. They were a southern band that actually denounced some things people associated with the south.
The songs called for better gun control, peace, care for the earth and compassion for all. The songs spoke about the demons we all dance with on our way to truly discovering our purpose. Skynyrd is not "a southern thing" despite what some fans my say. It's a unifying force for all. I have no roots in the holler....my great grandparents were immigrants from Slovakia, Italy and Poland. The things Ronnie spoke about are not isolated to one region, upbringing or anything like that.

The story, the music, the riffs, that was "our thing" in school. I had automatic kinship with those who also loved bands like the Stones, Skynyrd, Thin Lizzy etc. For a spell in highschool, my ringtone on my Nokia flip phone was a Skynyrd deep cut, "Was I Right or Wrong". I never silenced my phone in class...(Yeah I was that kid). My classmates and teachers would hear an almost daily dose of Gary and the gang.

My first band, Rightful Intentions (yeah you guessed it) did an instrumental rendition of "Freebird". My classmates Trent Arwood and Nick Robinson could play the lead part (Gary's slide part and all) note for note. That was no easy feat at age 12/13. And yes I KNOW "Freebird" makes many people cringe because of the generational jackasses that yell it out at any band at any venue but you that slide melody, that accuracy you can't deny the talent there.

Fast-forward to 2023, twenty years after I saw the Skynyrd for the first time, I am 30 years old and my entire career is based around performing and getting honest, heartfelt music to the masses. Any serious musician will tell you: we can only do many of the things we do because of the legends that laid the foundation before us.

Gary's work will live on and continue to inspire guitar players for generations. The message of Ronnie Van Zant has never been more relevant and force that is Lynyrd Skynyrd will continue to unify for years to come.

Rest easy Gary, THANK YOU for the music and for inspiring so many.

*Below are ten of my favorite riffs/songs by the band that continue to inspire me for all you fellow nerds out there. I'll be paying tribute to Gary at my French Broad River Brewery residency this Wednesday in AVL (6pm-9pm)

-Comin' Home

-On the Hunt

-Workin' for MCA

-Am I Losin'

- Needle and the Spoon

-Freebird

-I Never Dreamed

- Searching

-Cry for the Bad Man

- That Smell

#GaryRossington #lynyrdskynyrd #restinpeace #musicismedicine




          Gary Rossington​