When it rains it pours...
'Hardly Strictly' creator Warren Hellman dead at 77
Warren Hellman, the San Francisco financier whose willingness to fund an unlikely range of passions made him a force in Bay Area politics, education and music, died Sunday evening from complications of leukemia, his family said. He was 77.
Over the last ten or so years, Warren Hellman has brought an incredible amount of joy to Bay Area residents by sponsoring one of the most amazing music festivals in Golden Gate Park, the first weekend in October, entirely free.
Lyle Lovett & his band at 2009 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
Mr. Hellman built a fortune as an investor and seemed determined to spend much of it. Co-founder of the Hellman & Friedman private-equity firm, he poured money into local causes, some political, some personal.
I discovered what was then called Strictly Bluegrass in its first year when I happened to ride my bike past Speedway Meadow in Golden Gate Park and there were a couple hundred thousand people enjoying some fingerpicking great tunes. I couldn't believe that this was happening right in my backyard, but little did I know this would turn into an annual extravaganza with six stages and 300,000 music revelers.
And in 2001, Mr. Hellman sponsored a free, outdoor concert devoted to bluegrass music, a love he'd nurtured for years. Since then, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass festival has grown into an annual three-day event drawing more than 300,000 people to Golden Gate Park. It is still free, with costs covered by an endowment that Hellman - an amateur banjo player - created to ensure that the festival would continue "after I croak," he said.
Changing its name to Hardly Strictly Bluegrass, the festival features the likes of Lyle Lovett, Patty Griffin, Elvis Costello, Emmylou Harris, Steve Earle and just this year, Robert Plant.
Buddy Miller, Robert Plant, and Patty Griffin at 2011 Hardly Strictly Bluegrass.
But some of my favorite moments at HSB have come while discovering some of the lesser known but equally talented acts on the smaller stages, like Gandalf Murphy & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams, the Conspiracy of Beards, and of course, Warren's own band, The Wronglers.
Incidentally, just this week Speedway Meadow got renamed "Hellman Hollow."
Warren was one of those millionaires who used his blessings in this life to enrich all of our lives with music. I couldn't think of a better way to spend your money, and I will always be grateful to him for bringing the most gifted musicians in the world to us for a magical 3 days in October, and we didn't even have to look at one single annoying billboard or advertisement. It was music as it's meant to be, and the good news for all of us is that it will go on.
His daughter, Patricia Hellman Gibbs, confirmed Sunday:
"yes, the Hardly Strictly Bluegrass Festival will go on!"
Thank you Warren! May the four winds blow you safely home!
[UPDATE] hat tip to water willow, here's great obituary from the Bay Citizen, a publication his passion for journalism led him to found in 2010:
The Billionaire Who Loved Bluegrass
Also from the article a youtube of Hellman singing about his great-grandfather with his band, The Wronglers.