Andy Mason making summer return for concert in Portales

If they give out prizes at the summer reading programs at public libraries across our region this year for the person who came the farthest to be there, Andy Mason is lined up to take home a suitcase full of them.

As the crow flies, from where Mason makes his home these days in Les Martys, France, to eastern New Mexico is a little over 5,300 miles.

What brings this singer/songwriter with long Portales ties back to the area?

He is spending his 20th consecutive summer entertaining kids of all ages at libraries in New Mexico, Texas, Wyoming, and Idaho.

Mason will be in concert at 10:30 a.m. Thursday at the Portales Public Library, which also happens to be the library where he played his first official summer reading gig all the way back in 2005.

Mason was living in Portales then and was already a long established musician in the area (you may remember him as one of the Fun Brothers).

He gives credit to a cousin of his who is a librarian in Massachusetts for planting the summer reading seed in his fertile mind back in 2004 when she knew he was coming for a visit.

"She said, 'Can you bring your guitar and play a couple of kids' songs for the library? We'll pay you fifty bucks,'" Mason recalled.

Then his cousin told him it was not uncommon for librarians to hire musicians for those annual summer reading extravaganzas.

So the following summer, Mason said he reached out to the Portales Public Library and booked an appearance there, and then made calls and secured slots at seven other libraries all within driving distance of our area.

The next summer it jumped to 19, two years later it was 50, and in 2009 he peaked at 75 summer performances across multiple states. Most summers now, he aims for around 60 shows, he said, including a few non-library performances.

One special one he's scheduled for while he's in our area is set for 7 p.m. on June 15 at Uncle Mike's, a live music venue located at 401 S. Ave. C in Portales.

It's a benefit for the annual diaper drive for the United Way of Eastern New Mexico. There is no upfront cost, but folks who attend are encouraged to bring packs of diapers or "an extra $10 or $20" to donate, according to Erinn Burch, executive director of the UWENM.

"We are super excited to have Andy back in town," Burch said. "He looks out for us in so many ways."

Burch said the local United Way aims to collect at least 30,000 diapers each summer to help make sure an ample resource is available for "young families in need." All donations made at the Uncle Mike's event will stay in Roosevelt County, she said.

It's not Mason's first time to use his music to help out a good cause. His song "Smile," recorded in 2009, has raised thousands of dollars for the Smile Train, a nonprofit that provides cleft palate corrective surgeries around the world.

With 20 years of traveling performances under his belt, Mason says being on the road is hard, but his time in front of audiences in libraries and other venues every summer makes it all worthwhile.

Besides the Portales Public Library and the concert at Uncle Mike's, Mason's other local scheduled appearances include Clovis-Carver Public Library at 10 a.m. on June 11, the Cannon Air Force Base Library at 1 p.m. on June 13, the new Hillcrest Senior Life in Clovis at 2 p.m. on June 14 (that one's for ages 50 and up), and Enchantment Vineyards in Portales at 5 p.m. on June 14.

"I didn't have a clue what I was doing when I started this," Mason says with a grin, "and at the end of every summer I say I'll never do it again. But I guess I have short-term memory. As long as they keep inviting me, I'll keep coming back."

Mason's complete summer schedule is available on Facebook at Andy Mason Music.

Betty Williamson has been an Andy Mason fan for a quarter of a century. Reach her at

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