Station Archive

Today we conclude our interview with Gene Parsons, 72, who was part of The Byrds from 1968 to 1972 and performs with David Hayes in Davis this Saturday, Sept. 10 (here's part 1 of the interview). We hear more about his songs, The Byrds, the note-bending Stringbender device he invented in the 1960s, a steam engine he built in his shop, new music he’s recording with Hayes and the Mendocino Quartet, a long-ago trick in a Yucca Valley bar & grill that tapped his skills with an acetylene torch, and what's coming next. “We have a few other performances that are on the books. We don’t do a lot. We’re kind of basically semi-retired in the music biz,” he says. “We’re kind of just letting it unfold.”