Blaze Foley Caricature

Blaze Foley Caricature, illustrated here in Austin, Texas, 1987, age 37.

Michael David Fuller (December 18, 1949 – February 1, 1989), better known by his stage name Blaze Foley, was an American country music singer-songwriter, poet, and artist active in Austin, Texas.

When singer-songwriter Blaze Foley was murdered at the age of 39, in February 1989, he had released only one single and an LP that he’d mostly distributed himself. He had spent much of the previous two decades in obscurity, making the rounds at clubs in Austin and Houston, crooning his introspective folk-country stunners, which melded starry-eyed romance and critical self-reflection.

In the spring of 1975, he was living in a small artists’ community just outside Whitesburg, Georgia, when he met Sybil Rosen. Rosen and Foley were in a relationship and decided to leave the artist community together to support his music. He went on the road and performed in Atlanta, Chicago, Houston and, finally, Austin, Texas.

Foley was close friends with Townes Van Zandt and was greatly influenced by him. Foley’s stage name was inspired by his admiration of musician Red Foley.

When the “Urban Cowboy” frenzy hit Texas, and folks were walking around with silver tips on brand new cowboy boots, Foley took to putting silver duct tape on the tips of his beat up pair. Later he walked around Austin is a suit made completely of duct tape. The legend of the “Duct Tape Messiah” was born.

Other parts of his legend were not so shiny. Blaze had serious problems with alcohol, and was banned from playing, or even entering, such landmark Texas venues as the Cactus Cafe of the Kerrville Folk Festival. He often slept in his car, sometimes on the street.

In February of 1989, when he was thirty-nine, Foley was shot and killed by the son of his friend Concho January. Carey January claimed self-defense and was acquitted of murder.

Just a month before his death, Foley recorded Live at the Austin Outhouse. Backed by Champ Hood and Sarah Elizabeth Campbell, this is the definitive collection of his small but profound catalog of music.

During his short life Foley worked with Gurf Morlix, Van Zandt and Calvin Russell, among others. His songs have been covered by Merle Haggard, Lyle Lovett, and John Prine. Townes wrote “Blaze’s Blues” about his friend, and Lucinda Williams wrote “Drunken Angel” as a tribute to Blaze.

Yet since his death, he has become something of a folk hero. Beginning in the late nineties, several previously unreleased albums were made available to fans. John Prine, a hero of Foley’s, covered one of his songs, the elegantly observant “Clay Pigeons,” on his Grammy Award–winning 2005 album Fair & Square. The documentary Blaze Foley: Duct Tape Messiah was released in 2011. In 2018 Ethan Hawke–directed biopic film, “Blaze” was released.

As he was lowered into the ground in Austin, mourners threw Bibles, picks, and capos into the grave, covering a casket sealed by his friends in layers of silver duct tape.