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Texas Agriculture Archive

April 7, 2006

Murphey concert to benefit victims

The man who sang his way into the hearts of Americans with a song about a pony named "Wildfire" soon will be singing about wildfire in another way. Cowboy singer and country performer Michael Martin Murphey has announced a benefit concert to help heal the hearts of the victims of the devastating wildfires that flashed across the Texas Panhandle.

The benefit concert is set for Saturday, April 15, at the Globe-News Center for the Performing Arts in Amarillo. Murphey will team up with a number of other performing artists and the Texas Farm Bureau to help those families hit hardest by the fires. Texas Forestry Service officials said the Panhandle fires killed 11 people, and claimed nearly 1 million acres of land. All totaled, 1.3 million acres of the state have burned since December 2005, including a blaze in Central Texas that claimed much of the community of Cross Plains in January.

The Panhandle fire, officials said, was the single largest mobilization of firemen in state history, with more than 700 professional and volunteer firemen lending their services over the weeklong blazes.

There are also reports of up to 5,000 head of livestock killed by the flames. Dozens of homes, barns and outbuildings also were laid to waste, and miles of fence lines and power lines were in ruins.

"Hearing about the devastation and how these fires swept through to change the lives of numerous families in the Panhandle area, really touched my heart," Murphey said. "When agriculture people are hurting, other rural people are always quick to step forward. This concert will provide a venue and a relief vehicle for all Americans to help make a difference."

Performers are lining up to assist Murphey with the effort. Country singers Red Steagall and R.J. Vandygriff have given commitments to appear. The acclaimed Amarillo Symphony Orchestra will back up Murphey. Classical pianist John Bayless, a Panhandle native, will also perform.

"Michael Martin Murphey is a Farm Bureau member and he is reacting much the same as thousands of other members, asking what they might do to help," said Texas Farm Bureau President Kenneth Dierschke. "We appreciate what this great performer is doing and we'll do everything we can to help as part of our own donation."

Additional concerts to benefit the fire victims also may take place in venues in the Amarillo area during Easter weekend, according to Murphey, a member of the Texas Farm Bureau and a devoted advocate for agriculture.

Murphey also performs the theme music for the new PBS agriculture series, "America's Heartland."