Kelly Willis at The Bugle Boy

Oklahoma native Kelly Willis was still in her late teens when she first moved to Austin, Texas, fronting the celebrated but short-lived rockabilly combo Radio Ranch, and it didn’t take long to turn heads — including that of famed Texas songwriter Nanci Griffith, whose recommendation to producer/label bigwig Tony Brown netted Willis a major label Nashville record deal. Rather than mainstream country stardom, however, her destiny was to find critical acclaim and a diehard fan following as a darling of the alt country/Americana set, beginning with her aptly titled 1999 breakthrough What I Deserve. In the 25 years since she’s released three more outstanding solo albums (2002’s Easy, 2007’s Translated from Love, and 2018’s Back Being Blue), as well as three equally splendid duo records and a Christmas EP with Bruce Robison and, most recently, a debut EP with the Wonder Women of Country, her trio with Brennen Leigh and Melissa Carper. She was inducted into the Austin Music Hall of Fame in 2009, and has also won seven other Austin Music Awards, including three wins for Best Female Vocals and one for Album of the Year (for What I Deserve).

“Kelly Willis looks back to country music before Nashville embraced power ballads and cute happily-ever-after songs. She has an old-fashioned country voice with a twang, a breathy quaver, a break or a throaty sob whenever she needs one. … Whether she was wishing for comfort, admitting to a bruised heart, yielding to illicit romance or trying to say goodbye, her voice was modest and true, illuminating the delicate tension and pain in every line.”  — The New York Times