Wednesday, January 9, 2019

Happy Birthday, Crystal Gayle!


About a month ago I finally fulfilled a longtime wish - I got to meet one of my favourite female vocalists, Crystal Gayle! It came about quite quickly and unexpectedly, beginning with my scrolling through Facebook and seeing an advertisement for a concert Crystal was scheduled to perform the following week in St. Catherines, Ontario, which is just a 45 minute drive south from my place. I immediately checked the ticket site and found there were still some good seats available, so I made the purchase.

Four years ago I'd drawn a caricature of Crystal Gayle and posted it on her Facebook page, which I wrote about here. In response, I'd heard from a rep named Darrell in her management office telling me how much Crystal liked my picture. I was flattered and offered to send her a bunch of prints of it as a gift. So in planning my trip to see her in concert last month, I used that caricature as a way of hoping to get to see her after the show. Thanks to the same rep I'd dealt with four years ago, I was able to get permission to meet her as I'd hoped!

Crystal Gayle is such a lovely and gracious woman, and she was kind enough to pose for this photo with me and sign my caricature as well. As thanks, I'd brought her another dozen prints that she could give out to family and friends for Christmas. It's always a treat to meet celebrities whose work I've enjoyed all my life, and I'm very grateful to Crystal for her legacy of wonderful music!

Here is my caricature of Crystal Gayle once again: