Kimmie Rhodes, whose crystal voice and soulful songwriting helped establish Austin as the heart of outlaw music, will perform in concert Saturday, January 19 at the Spicewood Vineyards Event Center. The concert begins at 7 p.m. Back in the 70’s when Austin was a Groovers’ Paradise, Rhodes founded a songwriting career which saw her songs recorded by such stellar artists as Emmy Lou Harris, Wynona Judd, Mark Knopfler, and more. She has released 16 solo albums, written and produced three musical plays, and recently published a novella/cookbook. She is a highly respected presence in the music industry for her prodigious talent and devotion to Texas music. Rhodes’ career in music began inauspiciously when her babysitter introduced her to folk and gospel songs played on a pump organ. Her mother added musical theatre and tin-pan alley influences. In 1958 her father, a “carnie” orphaned during the Depression, moved the family to Lubbock, TX. He encouraged six-year-old Kimmie to sing for his “clients” at ten cents per song while he supported the family by checking illegal gambling bets in the back offices of car dealerships.

In 1979 she met Austin’s beloved radio personality, Joe Gracey, who had recently lost his speech to head and neck cancer. She became his voice and with him as her muse they formed a band touring the USA and Europe to critical acclaim. She went on to write for Rondor Music Publishing, which led to her success as a writer for popular artists and Hollywood films. As a tribute to Gracey, who died in 2011, Rhodes recently released Radio Dreams: The Story of the Outlaw DJ and the Cosmic Cowgirl. A “duet memoir” that weaves her own poetic prose with Gracey’s wry and witty musings, it tells the story of how with fellow artists, they made music history by turning Austin into “a scene” and “outlaw” into a sound.In spring 2018, Rhodes launched Radio Dreams on a “conversation with” tour of theaters in the UK. She led a songwriting retreat hosted by The Buddy Holly Educational Foundation in Lafayette, LA, then headed to Nashville, TN to celebrate the opening of a major Country Music Hall of Fame Museum exhibit, “Outlaws and Armadillos; Country’s Roaring 70s,” for which she has worked as a liaison, consultant and donor of archives since 2012.

The concert is sponsored by the Spicewood Arts Society with generous backing from John and Donna Curtis. Tickets ($50) can be purchased at www.spicewoodarts.org. Spicewood Vineyard’s prizewinning wines will be sold, and complimentary light snacks, coffee and water are served at intermission. For more on Kimmie Rhodes, see https://kimmierhodes.com/