Jimmy
LaFave was born in Wills Point, Texas, a small town 30 miles
east of Dallas. He began school down the road in Mesquite and
by Junior High was making music perched behind his Sears & 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, where he finished High School. Although
he has lived in Austin for the past 17 years, many people think
of him as 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 was in part, a combination of his experiences
there among authentic songwriters from the tradition of Woody
Guthrie. Here he did some independent recording and toured
the southwest with the first version of his band, Night Tribe.
He moved to Austin in 1986, where he continued to write songs
and to develop his musical ideas. Shortly after arriving he was
asked to help launch the songwriter nights at a new performance
venue, the Chicago House. In 1988 he recorded his self-produced
tape, 'Highway Angels...Full moon Rain', which won the Austin
Chronicle Reader's Poll 'Tape of the Year Award'. This led to
a recording contract with a small independent label and allowed
LaFave the opportunity to work with Bob Johnston, producer of
several of LaFave's favorite albums including Bob Dylan's Blonde
on Blonde and Nashville Skyline. Although these recordings were
never released, by 1990 LaFave had put together an Austin version
of Night Tribe and had become, according to the Austin American-Statesman,
'a perennial presence upon the Austin music scene'.
In 1992 Jimmy released a self-produced CD, Austin Skyline, which
drew international attention to his songwriting and vocal talents,
and led to a publishing agreement with Polygram Music. Due to
his growing popularity and radio play on more than 200 stations
Austin Skyline and its label, Bohemia Beat, received national
distribution through the Rounder Record Group. His second album,
Highway Trance was released in 1994 followed by his third CD,
Buffalo Return to the Plains, in 1995.
The grass roots demand and critical acclaim for Jimmy's music,
which led to extensive touring in the United States and Europe,
was recognized in 1996 when he was asked to tape a performance
of for the PBS musical series Austin City Limits, and was invited
by Nora Guthrie to appear in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame 'Tribute to Woody Guthrie'. And, in a town known for
its songwriters, for the second consecutive year, The Austin
Music Awards named LaFave 'Best Singer-Songwriter'.
His fourth CD, Road Novel, which was released in early 1997,
received many glowing reviews. That year he was asked by Nora
Guthrie to speak and perform at the induction lf Woody Guthrie
into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. He traveled to Europe twice and
also toured the USA and Canada.
In early 1988, he returned to Europe to tape the prestigious
German television show Ohne Filter. That summer he was back in
the USA and Canada touring and doing festivals and taped his
third appearance for National Public Radio's Mountain Stage.
Jimmy also organized a project dear to his heart. He produced
and hosted a benefit for the American Indian College Fund. The
show featured twenty of Austin's best singer-songwriters and
was named by the Austin American-Statesman and Third Coast Music
as one of the best concert events of the year.
In the fall of 1998 Jimmy and record label President, Mark Shumate,
began compiling a 15 year retrospective of bootleg tapes, live
performances, radio shows and studio out takes. LaFave kicked
off 1999 with the release of the CD entitled Trail. The double
CD contains 31 tracks recorded in Texas and around the world.
Including 12 Dylan songs, it also answered the demand of fans
for a 'LaFave does Dylan'CD. From the liner notes by Dave Marsh:
"
Jimmy LaFave has one of America's greatest voices, and this album
is the story of what he has learned to do with it. It's a unique
instrument, sith startling range and its own peculiar sense of
gravity, liable to swoop in and wreck your expectations at any
instant."
In 2001, Jimmy released Texoma, a celebration of the Americana
spirit with a heartfelt valentine to the heartland. KGSR Program
Director, Jody Denberg called it a "phenomenon." Denberg
said, " the phones lit up immediately after it was added
to the playlist, and they stayed lit." Since the release
of Texoma, Jimmy combined his solo dates with the Woody Guthrie
tribute tour titled "The Ribbon of Highway - Endless Skyway."
March 8, 2005 marks the release of LaFave's latest CD, Blue Nightfall.
This stunningly soulful album is LaFave's first in 4 years and
his first on St. Paul, Minnesota based Red House Records. Jimmy
will be touring heavily with his band throughout North America
in support of Blue Nightfall and continues to perform on the
tour titled Ribbon of Highway Endless Skyway ~ a Tribute in the
Spirit of Woody Guthrie.
