Roger McGuinn

Roger McGuinn takes fans on a journey at Smothers Theater

In 1978 or so my relatives in Germany sent me a budget Byrds compilation lp. I didn't know anything about the band as I was nine years old but I was immediately taken by their harmonies, the intricacies of the melodies and how they seemed to effortlessly move into and out of various styles of music.

At the Theatre at Ace Hotel, Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman were joined by Marty Stuart — and, for this tour opening, Mike Campbell — to celebrate the 50th anniversary of not just an album, but the country-rock movement it started.

These days the former Byrds frontman is a surprisingly youthful effervescent 71-year-old who tours the world with two guitars and songs and stories from a remarkable career.

Dallas, USA

The jangle of McGuinn’s electric guitar playing the Byrds’ arrangement of “My Back Pages” – “My ‘My Way,’” he called it – announced McGuinn as he walked on stage, stepped to a mic and began to sing. At 81, McGuinn’s voice betrayed some fragility, but he still plays and sings like a Byrd.

More photos from the sold-out shows at New York City’s Town Hall of Roger McGuinn and Chris Hillman with Marty Stuart doing the Byrds’ legendary Sweetheart Of The Rodeo.