McCaslin performed in Santa Cruz with Bonnie Raitt, Jackson Browne, David Crosby and Graham Nash during the “no nukes” rally that marked the 50th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshim…
SANTA CRUZ – Folk music icon and longtime Santa Cruz County resident Mary McCaslin died Oct. 2 at the age of 76 at her home in Hemet. McCaslin battled Progressive Supranuclear Palsy, a rare neurological disease similar to Parkinson’s disease which she was diagnosed with in 2017.
The song was written in 1977, when McCaslin was 31 years old and had just emerged as a bonafide country-western music talent. The words now take on a heightened resonance for McCaslin’s devoted family, friends and fans who have reveled in her lyricism for more than 50 years. She bought her first guitar at age 15 and by 18, McCaslin had played her first gig at The Paradox coffeehouse in Tustin. Word spread of her talent and it wasn’t long before she was consistently appearing at the iconic Troubadour’s Monday Night Hoots in West Hollywood, hosted by former Monkees member Mike Nesmith.
“One of the things that amazed me the most was her guitar playing,” said Dave Nielsen, who owns a studio on the westside of Santa Cruz and helped McCaslin record her final album “Better Late Than Never.” Altogether, McCaslin released 12 albums where she explored the deeply personal and abundantly universal in subjects such as family and adoption, western self-mythologizing and the ineffable beauty of the California landscape.
Arrufat said he first met McCaslin in the 1977 when she performed at a fundraising drive he had organized to help establish the Santa Cruz Mountains Community Theater. It served as an early example of a lifelong commitment by McCaslin, who performed at fundraisers and community events throughout her career, especially during her time in Santa Cruz.
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