Santa Fe artist Paul Milosevich created this 16-by-20-inch acrylic-on-canvas image of Bill and Bonnie Hearne. He finished the piece in January, just in time to coincide with Bill Hearne’s 75th birthday. It’s the cover image for Hearne’s latest album, Together Remembered: Just Bill & Bonnie in Song and Conversation. Courtesy Paul Milosevich
Santa Fe artist Paul Milosevich created this 16-by-20-inch acrylic-on-canvas image of Bill and Bonnie Hearne. He finished the piece in January, just in time to coincide with Bill Hearne’s 75th birthday. It’s the cover image for Hearne’s latest album, Together Remembered: Just Bill & Bonnie in Song and Conversation. Courtesy Paul Milosevich
Northern New Mexico musical titan Bill Hearne turns 75 on Sunday, February 11. The country-Americana singer and guitarist is marking the milestone by performing three concerts.
Fear not; they’re not on the same day. In fact, none is on his actual birthday, turning his diamond anniversary of life into more of an all-weekend musical celebration.
He performs in what’s billed as his 75th Birthday Bash on Saturday, February 10, in Lamy, followed by Monday, February 12, in Santa Fe. The latter performance is at La Fonda, where he also has a regularly scheduled performance Friday, February 9. He additionally performs Thursday, February 15, at Cowgirl BBQ.
Hearne says he’ll be off on his birthday to watch the Super Bowl — even though the Texas native’s beloved Dallas Cowboys were shellacked in the wild-card round of the NFL playoffs.
Hearne’s manager, Andrew Mackles, produced an album to coincide with the monumental day. Together Remembered: Just Bill & Bonnie in Song and Conversation is taken from Lanny Fiel’s radio show in May 1991 in Lubbock, Texas, and includes both songs and conversation featuring Hearne and his late wife. Hearne’s nephew Michael, also a performer, writes in the liner notes that Fiel gave them the recording at a performance in Waring, Texas, in November 2023.
The tracklist: Navajo Rug, by Tom Russell and Ian Tyson; No One Gives Us Tomorrow, Bonnie Hearne; Wild Geese, Ian and Sylvia Tyson; Close Up the Honky Tonks, Red Simpson; Amazing Grace; Cowboy Pride, Ian Tyson; Real West, Tish Hinojosa; Gulf Coast Highway, Nanci Griffith; Dance with Who Brung You, Ray Benson; Grandfather’s Immigrant Eyes, Guy Clark; New Mexico Rain, Michael Hearne; and Step by Step, Chuck Pyle. The album is available at upcoming shows, as well as at billhearne.com.
This year brings some other, less-obvious anniversaries in Hearne’s life. It’s 20 years since Bonnie retired from performing; she died in 2017. It’s 45 years since the couple moved from Austin, Texas, to Red River, where they were the resident entertainers at a restaurant-bar from 1979 until 1991.
Lest there be any doubts about Hearne slowing down, he plans a road trip in April and May that will take him through New Braunfels, Austin, and Bryan, Texas. Find performance dates at billhearne.com/schedule.Â
