FEEDBACK
> Name:Bryan L
> City:Los Angeles
> State:CA
> Country:USA
> Interests:Good music & theater...
> Feedback:As an expatriate West Texan myself, I had to pick up the album when I saw it - and have been loving it ever since. Keep up the wonderful work!
Thanks for the kind words, Bryan and for taking the time to sign the book when you visited the web page. God bless the Texans in L.A.!!!
Love, Kimmie
Andrew L wrote:
To Kimmie Rhodes - It's an obvious thing to say, but Lincoln, England is a long, long way from Texas. I have, as yet, not been there (in this life anyway), but there is an undefinable something that attracts me. I've tried to figure out whether it is the vastness (five times bigger than England), or the history/culture, but in the end I think it's just that the music is so damn good. With fellow Texans such as Robert Earl Keen, Townes Van Zandt, Lyle Lovett and The Vaughan Brothers (plus others too numerous to mention) there are enough influences to keep me enticed. It is often quite difficult to track these down over here, but it makes it all the more worthwhile when I do. A lot of British music is disposable made-for-profit stuff and therefore lacks soul and feeling. Most people of my generation listen to dance/rave which consists of drum machine loops and computer generated noise. For me this type of music leaves a big hole, but it is very popular. I guess I'm really trying to say thanks, and don't wait too long before making your next CD!
Andrew.
Hello Andrew,
Thanks for your sweet words and for listening to my music. I am working on a new CD now but I have no idea when it will be released. I really love the way it's turning out though and I think the songs are some of my best. I hope you will like it as much.
Give my love to England. I love and miss it. God bless.
Love, Kimmie
> Name:Smokey W
> City:Ola
> State:Arkansas
> Country:USA
> Interests:Happened across your site and when I heard "Wild Roses", I had to have the CD. We had to special order from Hastings book store. I totally love the music!! Thanks for your uniqueness! Smokey from Arkansas
Hello Smokey,
Thanks for your kind words and for listening to my songs! Thanks for your patience in ordering the record. I wrote "Wild Roses" on the way back to Texas from Nashville one day. There are lots of wild roses (pink ones) growing beside the roads everywhere! It's amazing.Take care and God bless.
Love, Kimmie
AWARE wrote:
> Kimmie,
> My wife (who was born and raised in Austin) and I travelled to Austin to see you at the La Zona Rosa Songwriter Festival in April. You were wonderful. Please keep up the great work. I love your voice, your stories, and your special understanding of the world we have created.
Hello,
Thanks for your letter and kind words. The La Zona Rosa show was a fun night. I never know where I will run into Billy Joe Shaver next! Thanks for your encouragement and for listening to my music. God bless.
Love, Kimmie
> Name:Hans S
> City:Marburg
> Country:Germany
> URL:http://staff-www.uni-marburg.de/~settler (GD Jayhawk formerly)
> Interests:-Insurgent Country
> -Playing your songs
> -Waiting for a letter from Kimmie
> -Hope to see the the West Texas Heaven before I die
> -Townes
> Feedback:I love your page
> Hans
> np I'm gonna fly
Greetings from West Texas Heaven, Hans!
Thanks for signing the book and for listening to my music. I hope you will see Texas! Take care.
Love,
Kimmie
> Name:Zach S
> City:Carrollton
> State:TX
> Country:USA
> URL:http://members.wbs.net/homepages/d/e/l/delugem.html
> Interests:I really enjoy your music. I really didn't like it at first, but my dad listened to it over and over again and now it has become some of my favorite. It holds a permanent place in our collective CD player. I am interested in poetry of all kinds, philosophy, and the effects of music on the heart, mind, and soul. My dad says to thank you for answering his e-mail.
Thanks Zach. tell your Dad thanks for listening to my CD so much that I won you as a listener as well. I am also interested in poetry and its effects on the heart mind and soul and in fact it's my life! I guess it can sneak up on you... so look out!Have you ever written any poems or songs? Maybe you should listen to a Townes Van Zandt record if you've never heard him before. I bet you'd like him. He's a real poet and he has been the favorite of many writers through the years. He has a vast cult following though he never received a lot of commercial success because his songs and style are just "too real" for most people. Thanks for writing. Take care.
Love, Kimmie
> Name:Lluis Sala
> City:Girona
> Country:Spain
> URL:http://ww2.grn.es/genoher
> Interests:Country/folk music
> Photography
> Literature
> Feedback:"West Texas heaven" is a masterpiece. I am glad I discovered it and got a copy.
> Kimmie, keep up with the good work !
Greetings from the land of Texas Lluis!
Thanks for writing and for your kind words. I hope to come to Spain someday before too long. I have traveled all over Europe but sadly never to beautiful Catalonia. It's good to hear from you. Thanks for listening to my music.
Love, Kimmie
Carl Bergstrom wrote:
> Dear Kimmie,
> As 1996 slipped into our memories, the year realized it had left
> something behind. It reached forward into 1997, fastened its
> grip on the greatest songwriter of my own lifetime, and gentled pulled
> Townes Van Zandt down with it.
> While its touch was far gentler than one might have expected, that was of
> itself little consolation to any of us who loved the man, whether we'd
> met him once -- as I had -- or known him for a lifetime, as I felt I had.
> The one consolation which 1997 did bring to me, though, was the
> discovery of your record. It was as if, just in the nick of time, Townes
> had passed on his torch and the flame still glowed brightly in the Texas
> night. A few days after he passed away, I found West Texas Heaven, and it
> has yet to leave my CD changer. I'm not a music critic, and so I'll not
> try to describe your voice which so suits to the land which birthed the
> songs, the brilliant songwriting or precisely how the record touches me;
> you of all people know this already, in any case. Let me just say thank
> you, Kimmie, for keeping this magic alive in our hearts and in our world.
> Yours,
> Carl Bergstrom
> Menlo Park, California
> Sunrise comes and I don't know why
> living loves and the day goes by.
> Soon the moon and baby and I
> will be lyin' side by side.
> "Pueblo Waltz"
> Townes Van Zandt (7 March 1944 - 1 January 1997)
Thanks for the kind words, Carl.
You never know what life is going to hand you and sometimes even once
you've been handed something you don't yet understand the depth of the
gift. On the day I wrote "I'm Gonna Fly" I knew when I finished it I had
written a song about dying (and flying) but I wasn't sure why I had done
it. I have a curious way of writing I guess. I don't really write them.
I just write them down. Anyway, a couple of years went by before we
recorded this record and when I went to Nashville to record with Waylon
I had no plans to record "I'm Gonna Fly" and no plans to record with
Townes. We ran into Townes at a birthday party the night before the
sessions and I asked him if he would consider coming to the studio the
next day to record a song. So "I'm Gonna Fly" just seemed like the best
song at the time. Townes was very fragile that day and there were
moments in the session where I have to admit I feared it just wasn't
going to happen. But his performance turned out to be brilliant and we
were all really happy and later we listened to the rough mixes and
danced in Jack "Cowboy" Clement's office and had a good time. But now,
now, I know what life was giving me that day and I am profoundly
grateful. Thanks for taking the time to write nad for listening to my
songs.
Love, Kimmie
--
email Kimmie: jgracey@outer.net
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