Remembering Dick Day

Visiting Dick in the hospital before he passed, I told him about working on the song "Seven Spanish Angels". I sang a few lines acapella, and he asked me to play and sing all of it for him. Next day I brought my guitar to his bedside to play for him. To warm up my arthritic fingers, I played Hank Williams' song Jambalaya. He smiled and even clapped as did the family and nurses listening in the room. I was getting ready to sing Seven Spanish Angels but the Doc came in the room to talk about his condition and I never got to play it. Dick, here it is now, just for you
love you brother, don.

Anon Dixon Day, AKA Dick Day, formerly a resident of Wilmington passed away on October 31st 2012 in a hospital near his home in Flat Rock, in the mountains of North Carolina. He was 70 years old.

Dick, an accomplished musician and artist was known for his unique and entertaining presentation of the Country Blues - what he called the “Real Country Blues”. Well known throughout the Southeast, Dick played in numerous bars, restaurants, honkytonks and country clubs, and never turned down an invitation to jam with fellow musicians. He was accomplished on both the piano and guitar and had a singing voice and performing style all his own, such that once you tuned in to his performance you were locked in for the night. A talented improviser, while in mid song, Dick could create verses for walk-ins as they entered the club and to the audience delight, it would work.

In Wilmington and Wrightsville Beach, starting in the early eighties and moving forward to the present, Dick played at the Pony Express, Thinkers Hill, Oral Delights, The Spot, The Wits End, The Olympia, Raw Bar, Palm Room, Katys, The Rusty Nail, and Waterstreet Restaurant. His last local performance was at Kefi, September 2011.

Dick shared the stage with many local performers, most were close friends that he had jammed with on many occasions off stage. They included Gary Allen, Bubba Cox, Neil Morris, Phil and Brian Kelly, John Bates, Billy Barfield, Davis Canady, Rob Harrington, Gene and Don Carmen …and there were others.

Dick was an unforgettable character. He was highly educated, an artist, a skilled carpenter and quite the philosopher. He served his country in the Marine Corps and was a true warrior throughout his life. At the same time he was soulful and kind of heart. If you were his friend, a true friend, he would stand by you and do anything he could to be there for you in your time of need.

We’ll miss you Dick Day and we’ll miss the real country blues as only you could play it. The memories will live on forever.

In your words,

"I've hitch hiked and played Honky Tonks all along the way, singing my own songs and livin' the country blues."

From Wrightsville Beach to Austin, Little Rock, Nashville, New Orleans and points in between.

Street corners, bus stations, pool halls, and honky tonks.

In the words of Walt Whitney, "Anon Dixon Day is the real deal!"

Dick Plays at Mudbones Barbecue

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