I was at Antone’s when I first saw Hurricane Margaret blow in, Sixth and Brazos, 1979. I don’t remember exactly who she was there to talk to, but I remember taking note of her poise and confidence. When she left that day, I asked, “What does she do?” The answer that came back was “Everything.”
Those were the early days of Double Trouble and Margaret seemed to be everywhere. She moved so effortlessly in and out of so many scenes. Back then, there were different worlds. There were the blues guys, the reggae people, the punks. She moved in all those circles. She was a threaded needle that pulled all those scenes together.
And there was a lot of looseness to all those scenes back then. So I remember seeing her around and thinking, “Oh good, she’s here. That’s good.” It was reassuring to have someone around who could make sense of that looseness. You know how people talk about the fabric of a community, how every thread in the quilt matters? She’s always been an essential, irreplaceable piece of that fabric.
We’re going to miss her.
Chris Layton
A version of this article appeared in print on Jun 30, 2017 with the headline: Chris Layton
This article appears in June 30 • 2017.