Author Georgie Ann Waddell holds her biography about the Blues Legend the Midnight Cowboy, Andy Rodgers. A giant photo of Andy Rodgers sits next to her.

GRIDLEY, CA (MPG) – Many still remember the local legend, the Midnight Cowboy, strolling around Gridley in full cowboy dress, including chaps and sometimes his hay hooks, but never without a harmonica.

The performer was hard to miss, with a larger-than-life personality and musical talent that he was driven to share with everyone. Whether it was performing for the nation on the Gong Show or simply stopping to play for someone on the street, Andy Rodgers -the Midnight Cowboy, lived for blowing the blues on his harps.

Andy Rodgers was inducted into the Cowboy Blues Hall of Fame (Nevada City) and has played for many famous individuals. While his original Blues compositions have spread across the globe and he has been called the “Grand Daddy of the Blues,” much of his personal story is unknown.

Georgie Ann Waddell met Rodgers in 1989 when she began working with him as a caretaker. Despite a 26-year age difference, Rodgers and Waddell would fall deeply in love. The Midnight Cowboy would spend the rest of his life with the woman he lovingly coined “Snowflake” after hearing one of her short stories. It was about a snowflake leaving the ice rink, landing on the cuff of a music man, and its resulting transformation, which was written 4 years before she met Rodgers. Waddell believes her story came true.

Waddell would eventually become Rodgers’s manager and producer, helping him cut two albums with her label Snowflake Records “Chicken Thief Blues” and “Freight Train Blues”.   She would also document their adventures together and Rodgers would dictate his life stories to Waddell, as he did not know how to read or write when they met.

In “Andy Rodgers, Midnight Cowboy: Snowflake and the Music Man,” Waddell shares these personal stories of the legend, pivotal events in the man’s life, and the experiences they shared together. The biography is a compilation of decades of memories, journal entries, photo albums and more, giving the reader an intimate view of the man Andy Rodgers really was, and the love that he shared with Snowflake.

Rodger’s biography is somewhat a non-linear read; One can turn to any of the 340 pages and pick short story that delves into the man behind the harmonica, poems, quotes, candid photos of the legend, and of course, the story of how he got the name Midnight Cowboy. It is written in his vernacular and how the man spoke – sometimes colorfully, openly, and honest. An undercurrent of the love that Waddel still has for Rodgers and her mission to share his extraordinary life with the world runs throughout the whole book.

In a “Letter to my Readers,” that acts as a forward to the biography, Waddell shares her motivation for completing Rodger’s biography. 

According to Waddell, Rodgers often repeated to her that he wanted to leave her something special and that she “was going to be a rich white girl when I am dead and gone,” from the book she would write about him. That comment still upsets her to this day, but she says that Rodgers knew she could tell his story the way he would want it to be told. Rodgers told her, “That’s why I tells you all these stories I tells no one else so you can write and tell the people who I am.”

Waddell writes, “This is what has prompted me to organize my history and research so all of you will have the opportunity to know this legend. When two hearts meet, it doesn’t matter the age or racial and social differences, it only matters that you are. Together we became Snowflake and the Midnight Cowboy.” She continues, “Writing this book is about his legacy to the Blues and cowboys of our Nation. It’s about his struggles and joys in life which made him the legend he is today. Each of us have our own memories, these are mine.”

Nearly 20 years after his passing, Waddell is still madly in love with her Midnight Cowboy.

The Biography “Andy Rodgers, Midnight Cowboy: Snowflake and the Music Man” is now available in print. If you are interested in reading about Rodgers’ amazing life, and learning a thing or two you may never have known about our local legend, please contact Georgie Ann Waddell to procure your copy at [email protected].