Description
Kelly Willis was barely 20 when a tip from Texas songwriter Nanci Griffith led producer Tony Brown to sign her to MCA Records. An auspicious debut, 1990’s Well Travelled Love, and a plumb spot on the soundtrack to Thelma & Louise followed. Kelly moved to Rykodisc in 1999 and recorded What I Deserve. A showcase not just for Willis’ masterful control of her ‘enormous voice’ (per critic Robert Christgau) but also for her songwriting chops (be it solo or collaborating with the likes of John Leventhal and the Jayhawks’ Gary Louris), that record clinched her standing as a bona fide darling of the national (and international) alt-country scene. Writers from No Depression to Rolling Stone cheered her ‘comeback,’ and fans voted it Album of the Year in the Austin Music Awards. A decade later would find her inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame. The albums Willis has made since What I Deserve have only burnished her reputation as Austin’s reigning queen of Americana. Three of those albums, including 2019’s Beautiful Lie, were duo records made with her ex-husband, fellow singer-songwriter Bruce Robison, who also produced Willis’ last solo album, 2018’s ‘richly satisfying’ (NPR) Back Being Blue. Photo by Lyza Renee.
Additional information
| Discipline | Music |
|---|---|
| Contact name | Davis McLarty |
| Contact address | PO Box 40727 Austin TX 78704 |
| Phone 1 | 512-848-0813 |
| Phone 2 | |
| Public Performance | $6, 500 – $10, 000 |
| School performance | $5, 000 – $7, 500 |
| Workshop fees | |
| Travel per diem lodging | $300 – $500 |
| City | Austin |
| Website | |
| Special audiences | Festivals |
| Venue size | Larger, Medium, Smaller, Unplugged, Very Large |
