Dallas dudes who inspired Willie Nelson’s salute to gay cowboys usher in star-studded Aetheria bash

[Ian David]

Some people dream big just to talk a big game. But some dreamers actually transform their wild imaginations into reality.

Last year — during the “Brokeback Mountain” craze — a Dallas couple became the de facto gay cowboys of Valentine’s Day. On the morning of Feb. 14 2006, Howard Stern was the first to air Willie Nelson’s new single, “Cowboys Are Frequently, Secretly Fond of Each Other,” the first gay-themed mainstream country song by a major artist.


WILLIE’S GOOD OL’ GAY BOYS: Still fond of each other, Darrin Davis, left, and David Anderson are no longer a romantic duo. But the former boyfriends are working together to fund scholarships for promising talent in North Texas.

But the Valentine’s Day tie-in to Nelson’s single had a personal connection.

In 2004, Nelson’s tour manager David Anderson, who had previously been married for 15 years, came out to Nelson and his wife. A lifelong Dallasite, Anderson met Nelson in 1973, when Anderson was an 18-year-old go-getter who booked the country star for outdoor festivals held at a parking lot near Love Field. They’ve worked together for more than three decades.

By rolling the single out on Feb. 14, Anderson said Nelson wanted to avoid anti-gay country fans bashing the song simply because of the queer content.
And that’s why Anderson’s coming out to Nelson was highlighted with the single’s release: If Willie says gay folks are cool, maybe his listeners will think the same.

<snip>

Last year, while Anderson and Davis were help publicizing Willie’s gay single, they also talked about their next project — “Aetheria,” a hippie-dippy sounding foundation that would fund scholarships to promote the arts in North Texas.


More:
http://www.dallasvoice.com/artman/publish/article_4661.php

Yes, I too thought that "Aetheria" sounded like the name of a disease.

[Pab Sungenis]

1. Very inaccurate article.

The two of them inspired nothing; the song was originally recorded by Ned Sublette, and Willie Nelson recorded a cover of it.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cowboys_Are_Frequently,_Secretly_Fond_of_Each_Other

Still, it's nice to see Willie is accepting and actively friendly to them and to gays.

(Edit to correct attribution.)

[Ian David]

2. Maybe Willie got the author of the article so stoned he forgot that? n/t