Jimmy LaFave

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Jimmy LaFave (born July 12, 1955) is an American singer-songwriter and folk musician born in Wills Point, Texas. By the early teens LaFave was making music perched behind his Sears and Roebuck drum kit. It wasn’t long before his mother traded a drawer full of green stamps for his first guitar and the switch to singer-songwriter was in progress. His family later moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma. Although, he has lived in Austin, Texas for the past 17 years, many people think of him from being from Oklahoma, because of his strong musical ties to the state and what he often refers to as his “ red dirt music.” It was in this landscape that he began to define his sound, which in part, a combination of his experiences there among authentic songwriters from the tradition of Woody Guthrie.^[1]

Other Okie musicians besides Guthrie who inspired LaFave include J.J. Cale, Chet Baker, and Leon Russell. Mixing blues, jazz, and country influences with the lessons learned from his musical hero, Bob Dylan, LaFave is both a perceptive songwriter and an appealing singer. According to LaFave, the college town of Stillwater, Oklahoma was a young city with a lot of bars and other places to play music. Many Austin artists, including Townes Van Zandt, Joe Ely, and Guy Clark played regularly in Stillwater. Another college student playing in Stillwater at the time was Garth Brooks. Eventually LaFave was drawn back to his birth state and the thriving music scene in Austin. Moving to Austin, a strong singer-songwriter community, challenged LaFave to hone his writing skills. LaFave's "red dirt music" sound is a mix of rock, folk, rockabilly, and country, grounded in the landscape of his Texas and Oklahomna influences. LaFave says that his record, Texoma, celebrates the time he spent in Texas and Oklahoma and the sound of the music there.^[2] In 1992 he signed with Colorado-based Bohemia Beat Records and recorded his debut, Austin Skyline. The album featured four Dylan covers. Two more albums were released on the Bohemia Beat label: Highway Trance (1994) and Buffalo Return to the Plains (1995). In December 1995 LaFave won the Songwriter of the Year Award at the Kerrville Music Awards. In March 1996 he won the same award at the annual Austin Music Awards.^[3]

In 2003 LaFave produced a Woody Guthrie tribute show called Ribbon of Highway, Endless Skyway. The ensemble show toured around the country and included a rotating cast of singer-songwriters individually performing Guthrie's songs. Interspersed between songs were Guthrie's philosophical writings read by a narrator. In addition to LaFave, members of the rotating cast included Ellis Paul, Slaid Cleaves, Eliza Gilkyson, Joel Rafael, husband-wife duo Sarah Lee Guthrie (Woody Guthrie's granddaughter) and Johnny Irion, Michael Fracasso, and The Burns Sisters. Oklahoma songwriter Bob Childers, sometimes called "the Dylan of the Dust,"^[4] served as narrator.^[1] When word spread about the tour, performers began contacting LaFave whose only prerequisite was to have an inspirational connection to Guthrie. Each artist chose the Guthrie songs that he or she would perform as part of the tribute. One of the songs Gilkyson chose was "Pastures of Plenty", while Cleaves chose "This Morning I Am Born Again" - a song he wrote using Guthrie's lyrics. One of the songs Paul chose was a song he wrote using Guthrie's lyrics - "God's Promise".^[5] LaFave said, "It works because all the performers are Guthrie enthusiasts in some form".^[6] The Ribbon of Highway tour kicked-off on February 5, 2003 at the Ryman Auditorium in Nashville. The abbreviated show was a featured segment of "Nashville Sings Woody," yet another tribute concert to commemorate the music of Woody Guthrie held during the Folk Alliance Conference. The cast of "Nashville Sings Woody," a benefit for the Woody Guthrie Foundation and Archives, also included Arlo Guthrie, Marty Stuart, Nanci Griffith, Guy Clark, Ramblin' Jack Elliott, Janis Ian, and others.^[7] LaFave's songs are reminiscient of the Dust Bowl heritage of Woody Guthrie, the early rock of Chuck Berry, the quiet folk reflections of Bob Dylan, and the rock anthems of Bruce Springsteen.^[8]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Jimmy LaFave Website