When To Fold ‘Em – Is There a Fine Art to Saying Farewell?

So long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night. No matter how you say it, goodbyes are never easy. Still, 2024 has seemed to be a year chock full of au revoirs, with some of country music’s most enduring artists and longest-running groups doling out their final farewells.

From Eagles to the Oak Ridge Boys, several of the genre’s most defining acts have either embarked on or concluded their goodbye treks this year, traversing, in some cases, the globe to bid their fans adieu. A last hurrah full of music and memories, these final tours are bittersweet endeavors for both musician and admirer alike, offering both parties the chance to say thank you and so long.

On one side of this farewell phenomenon lie the artists who genuinely want to put a gracious and appreciative bow on a decades-old career. On the other are those who seem to struggle with saying goodbye for good, instead reneging on their retirement or circling back to what was meant to be their end of the road. It makes one wonder, is there a right and a wrong way to put on such a final act? Is there a fine art to farewell?

First off, we need to look at motive. What makes an act decide to button up their touring career and set out on one last jaunt? For an outfit like country rock stalwarts The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band, whose All The Good Times tour will see them through the fall, it was about both enjoying a victory lap after nearly 60 years together while still being able to put on the show they wanted.

“We know we’re not gonna be playing into our 90s,” the band’s longtime keyboardist-vocalist Bob Carpenter told Holler. “And we have a certain set of standards. If we’re not going out there and killing it, singing and playing great, it’s not going to last. We know it’s not gonna last forever”.

The band wanted to take their time and give their fans the parting shows they deserve, capping their storied success on a high note one last time. “We wanted to acknowledge our fans and say goodbye,” Carpenter shared, “ [we wanted to] tell people if they want to see us live, now’s the time”.

While it seems natural to want to wax sentimental during these final days on the road, the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band has approached this endeavor like any other. Simply put, they have a show to put on. Carpenter admitted that the thoughts and feelings going through his head right now are the ones brought on by every tour, farewell-fueled or otherwise.

“‘Why aren’t our rooms ready yet? Why did the bus break down? What’s for dinner? Is my equipment going to work tonight?’ – it’s really a day-to-day thing,” he says. “Emotionally, you’re just trying to connect with your band members and connect with the audience and play and sing the best you can.”

Rather than getting entrenched in the ceremony of it all, the band is more focused on giving audiences the show they came to see. “You can’t put yourself through any of that stuff every night before you play. We’re just concentrating on what we always do, which is singing and playing great, getting the job done.”

That seems to be the most peculiar part of these final stints: We, as fans, too often forget that music is a job, touring is work, and even our favorite acts, even the most untouchable stars, can’t do it forever.

That seems to be the case for the Oak Ridge Boys, one of country music’s most enduring outfits. Their American Made Farewell tour was set in motion by certain physical limitations. When the vocal quartet embarked on their long goodbye in early 2024, it was without the group’s longtime tenor Joe Bonsall, who chose to retire from touring early due to a prolonged battle with a neuromuscular disorder. He sadly passed away this past July.

They set out on their farewell trek with a similar goal as that of the aforementioned Dirt Band. “What we want to do with this farewell tour is go around the country as much as we possibly can and celebrate the great career that we have been able to have,” the group’s bassist, Richard Sterban, shared of the tour months before Bonsall’s passing. “We basically want to say thank you to everyone who has helped us have a great career.”

Now, the endeavor is more than just a send-off of a beloved group, it is a celebration of a dear friend. Sterban spoke of feeling a wide range of emotions while out on this tour. With 28-year-old vocalist Ben James having taken up the mic in Bonsall’s stead at the start of the stint, he mentioned feeling a renewed energy on stage. “We’re excited about Ben James being with us because he’s brought a lot of youth to the group and he’s brought a wealth of talent.” However, he shared that the absence of the band’s longtime tenor has been deeply felt.

The band is taking the time to simply celebrate the decades they’ve shared together, the music they’ve made and the fans they’ve amassed along the way. They are booked through the rest of 2024, but there is not yet a definite conclusion to their last run. As Sterban shared, “We have not put a time limit on it”. The group is being realistic about what is possible in the long run, but they are also looking to a higher power to decide the real end for the Oak Ridge Boys. “We’ve always depended on divine guidance for decisions that we make in our group. We feel that when the good Lord above tells us that it is time to hang it up for good and go home, we will know that. We do not believe that He has said that just yet.”

Groups like the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and the Oak Ridge Boys are approaching their farewells this year with a certain care and a shared goal to honor the work they’ve done and the fans they’ve made. There are acts, however, who seem to be merely trying their goodbyes on for size.

The Eagles, for instance, have been practicing their so longs for years, each one ending up being more like a “see you later”. Since 2003, the iconic country rockers have undertaken a number of farewells, reboots and reunions, always seeming to resurface every few years for another last hurrah. With The Long Goodbye tour, they were set to retire from the road in 2024. However, they have extended their performances with a now-20-date residency at the Sphere in Las Vegas, a showcase slated to take them into 2025.

George Strait also retracted his own goodbye this year. His Cowboy Rides Away tour, which took place in the mid-2010s, was meant to be the end of the road for the legend, but this cowboy seems to have retraced his steps for a round of major stadium shows. More recently still, Alan Jackson has rebooted his Last Call tour from 2022, dubbing it One More For the Road. This year and the next, the star will perform 30 years of hits for the last time … again.

At some point, these repeated farewells feel more like money grabs or coded attempts to remain relevant. What was meant to be a parting gift becomes just a show with false promises and bigger price tags, cheapening something truly special in return. A final tour should mean something, should be a celebration of music, not some marketing ploy, and offer both artist and audience some kind of catharsis.

As mentioned in the beginning, goodbyes are hard; and no matter how extravagant the farewell tour, it’s never easy to see an act you love pack it up for good. In the end, though, so long, farewell, auf Wiedersehen, good night, or whatever, should be just that. There is no real art to saying goodbye, but there is an art to meaning it.