Richie Furay

Thank you for your nice article on Richie Furay ("Old-Fashioned Revival," March 14). It's nice to hear about good people for a change, instead of those who beat their wives and photographers. The work he has done in Buffalo Springfield and Poco has been greatly underrated. His music has always been uplifting. Even his sad songs can make you feel good. But more important than his music, he is a really nice guy. How many rock 'n' rollers do we know who have been married to the same woman for 31 years?

1 P.M. DON'T MISS Old 97's. The fiery '90s alt-country band from Dallas that launched singer-songwriter Rhett Miller is currently at work on its first studio album since 2004's "Drag It Up." (Palomino Stage, 1:45-2:35) CATCH IT IF YOU CAN David Serby. With easygoing Dwight Yoakam-meets-Ricky Nelson vocals, his skill is at sharp turns of phrase, and he has a fine debut album getting him noticed in country circles. (Palomino Stage, 1-1:30) ALSO Old School Freight Train.

The man strumming his guitar on stage wasn't looking to start a new career, or to revive an old one. Richie Furay left most of his rock 'n' roll dreams behind when he became a preacher two decades ago, content enough with his history as a founding member of Buffalo Springfield and Poco. Now 53, Furay performed at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Thursday to resurrect the country-flavored rock of his youth, but only as an occasional sideline to his spiritual life.

Thank you for your nice article on Richie Furay ("Old-Fashioned Revival," March 14). It's nice to hear about good people for a change, instead of those who beat their wives and photographers. The work he has done in Buffalo Springfield and Poco has been greatly underrated. His music has always been uplifting. Even his sad songs can make you feel good. But more important than his music, he is a really nice guy. How many rock 'n' rollers do we know who have been married to the same woman for 31 years?

In the mid-'70s, Richie Furay left behind the world of rock 'n' roll to answer a higher calling. But who says he can't return to his roots if the spirit moves him? Furay, a singer-songwriter-guitarist and founding member of both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, became a born-again Christian after steel guitarist Al Perkins (of the short-lived Souther-Hillman-Furay Band) introduced him to the faith.

1 P.M. DON'T MISS Old 97's. The fiery '90s alt-country band from Dallas that launched singer-songwriter Rhett Miller is currently at work on its first studio album since 2004's "Drag It Up." (Palomino Stage, 1:45-2:35) CATCH IT IF YOU CAN David Serby. With easygoing Dwight Yoakam-meets-Ricky Nelson vocals, his skill is at sharp turns of phrase, and he has a fine debut album getting him noticed in country circles. (Palomino Stage, 1-1:30) ALSO Old School Freight Train.

He has a Harley in his garage, LSD in his past and a "liveskunk" he occasionally holds in his lap aboard airplanes. He talks up Jesus at stadiums and on surfboards. And he gets letters threatening his life. Greg Laurie, the man behind all those Harvest Crusade bumper stickers, has carved out an unusual niche among evangelists.

for Buffalo Springfield Bruce Palmer, 58, the bassist and an original member of the rock band Buffalo Springfield, died Oct. 1 in Belleville, Ontario, Canada, after a heart attack. Born in Canada, Palmer played with Neil Young in a band called the Mynah Birds. Palmer and Young moved to L.A. in 1966 and joined Stephen Stills, drummer Dewey Martin and singer-guitarist Richie Furay to form the Buffalo Springfield.

"Retrospective: The Best of the Buffalo Springfield." Atco. Led by Neil Young, Stephen Stills and Richie Furay, Buffalo Springfield was one of the most gifted and influential American rock groups of the late '60s. Its most memorable songs--including Stills' "For What It's Worth"--combined disarming country-rock arrangements with a clear-eyed social realism and/or deeply rooted introspection that was, in part, a model for the Eagles and Crosby, Stills & Nash.

I find it sad and disturbing that Calendar can devote column after column to reviews of every two-bit rapper, punk has-been, metal never-was and even country wannabe but can't find room for a paragraph or two to review a special show at the Malibu Performing Arts Center featuring local legends Chris Hillman (the Byrds, Desert Rose Band) and Richie Furay (Buffalo Springfield, Poco). Couldn't you send someone to cover this event?

The man strumming his guitar on stage wasn't looking to start a new career, or to revive an old one. Richie Furay left most of his rock 'n' roll dreams behind when he became a preacher two decades ago, content enough with his history as a founding member of Buffalo Springfield and Poco. Now 53, Furay performed at the Coach House in San Juan Capistrano on Thursday to resurrect the country-flavored rock of his youth, but only as an occasional sideline to his spiritual life.

In the mid-'70s, Richie Furay left behind the world of rock 'n' roll to answer a higher calling. But who says he can't return to his roots if the spirit moves him? Furay, a singer-songwriter-guitarist and founding member of both Buffalo Springfield and Poco, became a born-again Christian after steel guitarist Al Perkins (of the short-lived Souther-Hillman-Furay Band) introduced him to the faith.

In the days after Buffalo Springfield, alum Richie Furay mixed his country and rock instincts in promising ways in this band, which drew from both the Byrds and the Beatles. It served, along with the more soulful Flying Burrito Brothers, as something of a model for the Eagles, but although Poco was around for a long time in various forms, it never really built convincingly on its first model--and even that now seems a bit thin.

Solo actors often portray multiple characters in their shows, but few if any match Heather Woodbury's total: In her much-lauded solo epic "What Ever, an American Odyssey in 8 Acts," performed over four evenings, Woodbury plays a whopping 100 characters. (Excerpts have been aired on National Public Radio's "This American Life.") * "What Ever, an American Odyssey in 8 Acts," 2100 Square Feet, 5615 San Vicente Blvd., Los Angeles, Thursdays-Sundays, 8 p.m. Ends April 19.