
Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown's music defied any simple categorization, but it certainly encompassed country, Cajun, blues and jump music. Weakened by the cancer that claimed his life just a few months later, he nonetheless rose to the occasion in early 2005 to play two shows -- in one night -- with Gregg Allman at an Atlanta performance hall. Turning for an instant to cue the band on the tempo for a song, the light played perfectly off of his cowboy hat while I stood at the back of the stage. Gatemouth truly led a cowboy lifestyle -- in his own way.