Like it or not — almost always the latter — there comes a time when Father Time calls time on every musical artist. The voice becomes lower and brittle; the hands no longer nimbly travel paths down which they once shone. Some artists do their best to ignore this, going on painfully long after they should have stopped, in the hope that their audience will see and hear them through a sufficiently thick filter of nostalgia to weed out the pitifully obvious present day shortcomings. Others read the signs properly and know the moment has come to exit gracefully, leaving the fans with one final appearance while they are still on top of their game. Richie Furay, of Buffalo Springfield, Poco, Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, and solo work fame, is thankfully of the latter mindset.
Furay, along with longtime compatriot Dan Skarda on guitar and harmony vocals plus Furay’s daughter Jessie Furay Lynch on note-perfect harmony vocals (she also took a couple of wonderful turns on lead), was superbly backed by San Diego, California-based covers band Back to the Garden as he visited Southern California the second weekend of November 2026 to play the final two shows of a legitimately legendary career that started in the early 1960s folk scene. From there, he graduated to membership in the seminal country/folk/rock ensemble Buffalo Springfield alongside Stephen Stills and Neil Young. From the ashes of that supremely talented but sadly short-lived band came Poco, the pioneering country/rock group revered by fans but, to this day, a band that has never received the accolades it deserved even as other bands following in its path, most notably the Eagles, grabbed the brass ring. After five fine albums made minimal commercial impact, a frustrated Furay joined forces with songwriter for rock royalty J.D. Souther and Byrds alumnus Chris Hillman to form the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band, which regrettably lasted only two albums. Furay then embarked on a solo career, eventually laying it aside to pastor a church in Colorado for over two decades before returning to performing and actively recording the melodic yet sophisticated country/folk/rock (he made three overtly Christian albums during his full-time ministry days).
In a set that lasted over two hours but was still too short, Furay belied his 82 years by performing with a level of brio the overwhelming number of performers half his age would be hard-pressed to match. His set drew from the entire spectrum of his career, touching on Buffalo Springfield material he penned, as well as compositions by Stills on which Furay took the lead vocal. Poco received its fair share of exposure, especially in a poignant medley highlighting compositions by members now departed (Paul Cotton, represented by “Bad Weather,” and Rusty Young’s “Crazy Love”) and still with us (Timothy B Schmidt’s “Keep On Tryin’” and Jim Messina’s “Follow Your Dreams”). Furay’s solo work was well represented, and the Souther-Hillman-Furay Band also received a nod courtesy of “Fallin’ in Love.”
As is his custom, Furay filled the spaces in between songs with stories, some related to the genesis of the next song and others in warm appreciation to the people with whom he was sharing the stage. The emotions running through both evenings occasionally bubbled over into tears. Still, for the most part they were channeled into a performance of pure Americana music by a man whose role in creating the genre cannot be overstated.
As the music flowed beautifully and powerfully, two things came to mind. One was the sheer quality of both the performance and the music, replete with melody and heartfelt sentiments far removed from the hyper-sexualized banality that permeates so much of contemporary popular music. Second was how blessed we are to have Richie Furay. In addition to being a worthy member of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame courtesy of his vital work with Buffalo Springfield (as a sidenote, Poco belongs in the Hall as well), he is a true man of God and an unashamed patriot who for decades has given of himself for our benefit. As I discovered during my interview with him last year, he is genuinely modest and unassuming. In a perfect world Furay would have filled arenas rather than a small theater followed by a medium-sized club for these performances, but popularity and talent are not necessarily bosom buddies. The faithful in attendance at one or both shows know the score and showed the love Furay deserves. If these are indeed his final live performances, while there is lament in knowing there will not be any more shows, there is also rejoicing in what we have been given. It is, indeed, a good feelin’ to know.
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