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By Jon Gosa

WAYCROSS — The annual Gram Parsons Guitar Pull tribute festival is returning Friday and Saturday to Waycross for its 20th anniversary celebration of the life and songs of Parsons, a flamboyant singer-songwriter who grew up in the rural south Georgia town and went on to make an indelible mark on the world with his patented brand of Cosmic American Music, a mix of rock, folk and country.

Parsons, whose contemporaries include musical icons such as Emmylou Harris, Chris Hillman (the Byrds) and Keith Richards (Rolling Stones), suffered several heartbreaking personal tragedies before leaving Georgia to pursue a career in music.

Speculation exists that the loss of his father, Ingram Cecil “Coon Dog” Conner, to suicide when Parsons was 12, and the loss of his mother, Avis Snively Conner, when he was 18 to cirrhosis, greatly influenced both his music and his abuse of drugs and alcohol, which ultimately led to his death at age 26.

“Parsons was different,” said former schoolmate David Prisant. “He and I were roommates at Bolles. You could tell he was one of those people who pushed the envelope a little more than most. He was extremely talented and really knew how to get along with people. I remember seeing the letter he wrote to the admissions office at Harvard. The letter read, ‘Dear Mr. Harvard … I want to go to college and major in english and people tell me you have a good college.’ He wrote English with a small ‘e,’ but Gram got in.”

Parsons rarely attended classes at Harvard and was subsequently kicked out of school after only one semester. However, it was during this time, after hearing Merle Haggard, that he developed a serious interest in country music.

The following year, with college behind him, Parsons chased his muse west, where he joined the Byrds, struck out on his own, befriended the Rolling Stones, stayed for prolonged periods of time at Keith Richards’ house in England, cut several deals with major record labels, sang haunting duets with a young Emmylou Harris, and spectacularly failed to ever chart a hit.

Parsons’ career was one of false starts, alcohol and drug induced philandering and soul-agonizing introspection.

But, along the way, the tortured artist (Parsons) created an entirely new brand of music he called Cosmic American Music. While the rest of America was rocking out to Jefferson Airplane, the Beatles, Rolling Stones and Jimi Hendrix, Parsons was writing twangy blue-collar country.

Keith Richards is quoted as saying of Parsons, “He loved country music, but he really didn’t like the country music business and didn’t think it should be angled just at Nashville. The music’s bigger than that. It should touch everybody.”

Today, Parsons’ style of music, now known as Americana, is rapidly gaining mass appeal with the recent success of artists like Chris Stapleton, Jason Isbell and John Prine.

And unfortunately, like many great artists, Parsons never knew true success while he was alive. Many of the accolades and recognition awarded him came only after his death.

In 2003, the Americana Music Association honored Parsons with its “President’s Award” and, in 2010, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him No. 87 on its list of “100 Greatest Artists of All Time.”

“The music made by Gram Parsons … was characterized by first-night nerves, reckless disregard for rehearsals and an uncanny ability to pull something out of the hat,” David Cavanagh wrote for Uncut Magazine.

Parsons’ flamboyant star power, intoxicating lifestyle and poignant songs, along with the theft and fiery desecration of his body by longtime friend and tour manager Phil Kaufman after his death in 1973, have given Parsons cult status and created for his music, which many believe was ahead of its time, a mythology of overlooked genius.

The Gram Parsons Guitar Pull tribute festival is the ultimate celebration of that overlooked genius and will feature artists from across the nation all coming together to pay musical homage to Parsons, who many consider to be an American songwriting legend, according to festival organizer Dave Griffin.

“The 20th anniversary,” Griffin said. “Can you believe it? It has been a long, hard road, but it’s been fun. For something that started in your backyard in 1998, it’s a proud moment to reach 20 years and it couldn’t have been done without the assistance of good people all around me, from the people who helped me organize it and get it together, to the musicians themselves that come to pay tribute to Gram of their own accord, and all the way to the audience. It’s a love for the man behind the music.”

According to Griffin, the cooperation of everyone involved with the festival over the years, has grown the event into an amalgamation of like minded people coming together each year to enrich their spirits through the shared experience of Parsons music and the music of the acts involved.

“Without being corny, it’s a love-fest,” Griffin said. “It’s an organic thing of everybody coming together, the artists, the audience, the sponsors in a like minded spirit that makes the event special. It is a love for everything Gram.”

The 20th anniversary festival will be particularly special, according to Griffin, and will feature 29 bands, including regional acts the Pine Box Dwellers of Waycross, Abby Owens of Port St. Lucie, Florida, Sundowner Motel of Albany and headliners Firefall — ’ 70s rockers whose hits include “You Are the Woman” and “Just Remember I Love You” — and country standouts The Kentucky Head Hunters, whose hits include “Oh Lonesome Me” and “Dumas Walker.”

“Jock Bartley of Firefall actually used to be the guitar player in Gram’s touring band the Fallen Angels,” Griffin said. “Now, the Ketucky Head Hunters don’t have a connection to Gram except that their guitar player Greg Martin is a huge fan of everything Gram. The head hunters, grew up at the same time as me and grew up buying Gram’s records. We all discovered Gram almost too late. By the time we figuerd out who Gram Parsons was, he was gone.”

The festival opens at noon Friday and Saturday.

“Festival goers are in for a treat with two high caliber headliners as well as 27 other local and regional supporting acts of exceptional caliber,” Griffin said. “Gate price is $30 per day and weekend passes are $50. If you are military or have a student I.D. you get $5 knocked off of that. You can bring pets as long as they are leashed. It is a very family oriented event. Kids are more than welcome and 12-years old and under are free.

“Tent camping is free and R.V. camping is $30 for the entire weekend. The show runs from 5 p.m. Friday until 2 a.m. Saturday and then resumes at noon on Saturday and goes to 1:30 a.m. We also have VIP passes available for $100 which gets you a variety of benefits including a meet and greet with the headliners.”

For more information visit GPGPFest.com.

“I just say this — it’s music. Either it’s good or it’s bad; either you like it or you don’t.” — Gram Parsons