Remembering Singer John Denver on his New Year’s Eve Birthday

Two months before his death, singer/songwriter John Denver wrote a letter to his mother on her birthday and told her, “I would not be the man I am, nor would I sing the way I do, nor would I have written the songs I have written without the influence and inspiration you have been to me. I want you to know that today there are hundreds, if not thousands, who join me in saying, ‘God bless the day that you were born.’ ”

Today is John Denver’s birthday, born on New Year’s Eve in 1943. John Denver — forever in our minds as the youthful, blonde-headed, wire-rimmed granny glasses-wearing troubadour — would now be a 74-year-old grandpa if he had lived. His daughter Anna Kate, 41, who lives in New Zealand with her husband Jaime Hutter, gave birth to a daughter, Daisy Eloise, on December 21, 2011.

‘Aspinwall & Friends’ … Houston folk music at its best

Bill and my sister Gail

By Lynn R. Mitchell
Originally published April 6, 2009

If you like the laid-back easy feel of acoustic folk-style music, then pour a glass of wine, kick back, and mellow out to entertainer Bill Aspinwall, an all-around great musician and singer who represents some of the best that Austin and Houston have to offer in the folk music genre.

Named 2005 Songwriter of the Year by the Houston Association of Acoustic Musicians (HAAM) and the Houston Songwriters Association (HSA), Bill also was co-creator of the 2005 Song of the Year, “Fractured Lives,” included on his new solo CD, Free Range Trout: Aspinwall & Friends, featuring some of Houston’s finest musicians.

With calming tunes reminiscent of James Taylor but skillfully interwoven with the story-telling style of Jimmy Buffet and others, Bill Aspinwall’s music, much of it self-written, makes for relaxed listening or singing along.

Bill, who is affectionately known as “A,” is my brother-in-law, married to my Texas sister. When together, we all kick back and are taken away by his very talented musical skills as he plays acoustic and electric guitar, banjo, jaw harp, and anything else he can put his hands on … truly a talented gentleman. When coming to Virginia to visit, we can always spy them as they emerge from the plane because of Bill’s faithful and trusty guitar that is always in hand.

Remembering singer-songwriter John Denver on his New Year’s Eve birthday

By Lynn R. Mitchell

“I would not be the man I am, nor would I sing the way I do, nor would I have written the songs I have written without the influence and inspiration you have been to me. I want you to know that today there are hundreds, if not thousands, who join me in saying, ‘God bless the day that you were born.’ ” – John Denver’s birthday letter to his mother, two months before his death

Today is John Denver’s birthday, born on New Year’s Eve in 1943.  John Denver — forever in our minds as the youthful, blonde-headed, wire-rimmed granny glasses-wearing troubadour — would now be a 71-year-old grandpa if he had lived. His daughter Anna Kate, 38, who lives in New Zealand with her husband Jaime Hutter, gave birth to a daughter, Daisy Eloise, on December 21, 2011.