Goodness, that flame burns brightly still! We had such a phenomenal response to the GP birthday competition. Thank you so much to everyone who took the time and trouble to pen a message in the Room 8 guest book – we have been touched and humbled by all the GP love!

If only we could send books to all of you. Sadly we can’t – our publisher wouldn’t allow it for one thing – so we’ve had to make some tough decisions. We cogitated and deliberated, rated and debated, and in the end decided to choose stories which illustrate how Gram has been a connector in your lives, as he has in ours and in so many other people’s. So Aaron Beavers, Anna H and Graceless Lady – step forward and claim your prize! Congratulations – send your postal address to us using the ‘Contact Us’ link over there in the sidebar and we’ll mail it out to you.

To our unlucky losers, once again thank you for your touching messages, which the delightful Margo at the Joshua Tree Inn has kindly agreed to add to the real Room 8 guest book. We feel like we’ve connected with some wonderful new souls this past week (with special thanks to Shilah Morrow, guardian angel and headline act of Live Fast, Die Young for connecting us). Perhaps one day our paths will cross in the real world. For now though, Facebook is our closest connection to you all, and if you haven’t joined the team there already, we’d love to welcome you along. There are loads more ways to connect with us over there on the right of this page.

A final plug for the book, if we may be so bold. Live Fast, Die Young: Misadventures in Rock & Roll America is our own little birthday present to GP, and we like to think it’s a tribute to friendship too. There’s more information, photos and videos here on the site or on our various social media platforms. American friends may wish to consult this handy guide about how to get hold of your copy.

Happy Birthday Gram – the flame burns brightly tonight. We’ll sweep out the ashes in the morning.

Chris & Joe

Missing Parsons

P.S. We all know that Gram started something pretty special with his vision of Cosmic American Music. But did you know that in pursuing it he very nearly killed off a whole genre of music, barely out of diapers itself? No? Then have a read of Joe’s most recent blog Gram Parsons Killed Heavy Metal, immediately below this one.

There’s a kind of wearisome inevitability about two film lovers publishing a book on May 4th and announcing it with a bad Star Wars pun. Please believe us when we say that Live Fast, Die Young: Misadventures in Rock & Roll America is much funnier. Promise. We’re thrilled – literally beside ourselves (er, each other?) with glee – to tell you that the book is available in stores from today. If you prefer to shop online, Amazon are still offering a 25% discount (US peeps go here for more info on the best way to get your copy). To celebrate, we’re offering you the chance to win a personally signed copy. Have a watch of the opening chapter below, then read on for how to enter:

For your chance to win, all we ask is that you share this video with your friends. If you arrived here from Facebook, hit ‘Share’ under the post for this video on the Missing Parsons page and give us a thumbs up so we know you’ve passed it on*. If you’re a Twitter follower, just retweet one of the many tweets containing this video. And if social media aren’t your thing, just share this blog post with your friends via email and then let us know in the comments box below.

Last entries accepted at 14.00 BST on May 11th. We’ll pick a winner from Joe’s very large bespoke hat at the book launch (which starts at 18.00 that day) and announce the winner here on the 12th. Good luck!

*If you do enter, please do share the video or angels will die in heaven. Some naughty peoples are entering without sharing, which frankly isn’t cricket. (What’s the emoticon for ‘not angry, just disappointed’?)

Additional Brownie points, but absolutely no prize whatsoever, will be awarded to anyone who can spot the badly hidden film reference (not Butch & Sundance or Star Wars) in the prologue video above. Clue – it’s near the beginning and end of the clip.