Austin Music Legend Jimmy LaFave Succumbs To Cancer At 61

AUSTIN, TX — Jimmy LaFave, a prominent singer/songwriters in the musician-filled "live music capital of the world" that is Austin, died Sunday night after a battle with cancer at the age of 61.

Born in Wills Point, Texas, before spending his formative years in rural Payne County, Oklahoma, LaFave made his way to Austin in the mid-1980s. After a musical childhood (the acoustic guitar of his youth is displayed in the Woody Guthrie Center in Tulsa, Okla.), Austin was a perfect match for LaFave.

He threw himself into the city's musical culture, gradually becoming one of its most recognizable figures in a city brimming with artists and musicians. Guthrie was a lifelong influence, and LaFave was considered nothing short of a disciple of the folk music icon. With that spirit to guide him, LaFave crafted a musical style known as "Red Dirt Music," a genre that derives its name from the color of soil in Oklahoma.

LaFave had attended Donart High School in Stillwater, Okla., considered the epicenter of Red Dirt music, creating a subgenre of the musical style upon his arrival in Austin, with its own special Texas twang twist. But he never forgot his folk roots, and was an advisory board member and regular performer at the annual Woody Guthrie Folk Festival.

Among LaFaves' accolades are "best cassette release" designation for his 1988 "Highway Angels...Full Moon Rain" tape as deemed by the Austin Music Awards; the 1996 Kerrville Folk Festival songwriter of the year award; his appearance on the long-running and venerable Austin City Limits program on PBS.

Soon enough, LaFave became a fixture at local clubs where he hosted open mic sessions and musical jams, including a weekly open mic at popular Sixth Street club Chicago House in the 90s and the annual "Late Night Breakfast Jam" at La Zona Rosa's at 4th and Rio Grande streets, where he donned the vintage cap that became his signature.

By 1992, LaFave had signed with Bohemia Beat, an affiliate of Rounder Records, during which time he produced "Austin Skyline" and five more albums over the course of a decade. It was during this time his profile grew to national, and even international, status. It was during this period of prolific output that he was featured on "Austin City Limits" playing selections from his 1995 "Buffalo Returns to the Plains" album.

All told, LaFave recorded 15 albums. His 2007 release, Cimarron Manifesto, reached the No. 1 ranking on the American Music Association album chart. Five years later came the studio album "Depending on the Distance." He later co-founed his own record label, Music Road Records, issuing six more albums and records featuring largely Austin musicians.

Among his best-known songs include the romantic ballad "Never Is a Moment" from his 2001 album "Texoma." LaFave also was praised for his covers, most prominently his rendition of Left Banke's 1960s pop classic "Walk Away, Renee," that is a YouTube sensation.

After he revealed his diagnosis, fellow musicians—Slaid Cleaves, Ruthie Foster, Eliza Gilkyson and others—descended to the Paramount Theater for a sold-out musical tribute that served as a titting sendoff to the prolific and important musician. Sadly, he won't be at his next major gig in the state of his formative years, as he was set to be inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame on June 14 with fellow inductees Carl Belew, musician-actor Rodney Lay, the Red Dirt Rangers, David Teegarden, Sr., and singer-harmonica player Jimmy "Junior" Markham, although he'll be there in spirit with a looming presence.

Survivors include his son, Jackson LaFave, 15, and his former wife, Barbara Fox, Jackson’s mother, both of Austin; his father, G.G. “Frenchy” LaFave, of Kingfisher, Okla.; siblings Gary LaFave, Robert LaFave and Connie LaFave Gallupe of Oklahoma, LeeAnn LaFave Swanson of Colorado; several nieces and nephews, including Jesse LaFave, an Austin musician who runs Cedar Creek studio. He was preceded in death by his mother, Betty (Robbins) LaFave.

>>> Uppermost image: Jimmy LaFave at the 2012 Texas Book Festival, photo by Larry D. Moore CC BY-SA 3.0 via WikiMedia Commons.