Our dear friend, longtime bandmate and beautiful guy Larry Diaz has gone over the horizon.
For too brief a while in my life, there was an open-hearted, gentle, courteous, humble guy, always ready with a humorous quip, a talented music-loving man, his name was Larry Diaz. I will always love Larry.
It was music, always music that brought us together. We never needed to say a word about how much music meant to us, how much it took us out of ourselves, far beyond mundane concerns, how it fed us and healed us too... and why the size of the audience didn't really matter.
Larry was a quiet man. He sang like an angel and spoke with a voice smooth as silk. He loved the Beatles. He loved Neil Young.
When he was at his lowest, there was something that would not let him ask for help. There was immense suffering, but with Larry, you'd never know it. It wasn't pride. It was deep humility and deep acceptance. He fought for his life with unbending courage for I think well over a year. I can only guess that after a while, enough was enough and he need to find his own gentle way out, a way that didn't cause a fuss or bother anyone. Such was Larry.
Dear Larry, you were here and you blessed my life with your spirit. There was something about me, my past and my journey that I knew you understood. We had some unbelievable times together, more than a decade sailing through spheres of country blues and Neil Young music.
I'll miss you buddy. As my dear old Dad would say with bowed head and a whispered voice of resignation, "That's just the way it is". He was right. But I don't like it
