9 Years Ago Today, We Said Goodbye to One of Red Dirt Music’s Founding Fathers Just Days After His Sold-Out Farewell

On May 21, 2017, pioneering red dirt musician Jimmy LaFave went out on precisely his own terms. He died peacefully at his home in Austin, Texas, surrounded by music and loved ones.

Videos by American Songwriter

“It was almost like something out of a movie, but a really sad movie where you already knew how it was going to end,” the singer’s nephew, Jesse LaFave, told the Austin-American Statesman. “But he wanted to pass away at his house, and that’s exactly what he did.”

Just 61 years old, LaFave had been diagnosed with myxofibrosarcoma—a rare, aggressive cancer—the previous year. After treatments failed, the disciple of Woody Guthrie decided to throw one final concert.

Three days before his death, on May 18, 2017, more than 1,000 people packed into Austin’s Paramount Theater to watch a handful of musicians personally selected by LaFave pay tribute to his legacy.

At the end of the nearly four-hour show, the singer-songwriter led dozens of performers in a medley of “I’ll Fly Away,” “This Land Is Your Land,” and “Goodnight Irene.”

“I’m a dead man walking,” LaFave told the Austin Chronicle ahead of the event. “But I’m going to go out in the presence of laughter, music, and friends.”

Along with Bob Childers and Terry Buffalo Ware, Jimmy LaFave helped develop the country music subgenre known as red dirt music.

He recorded 15 albums throughout his nearly four-decade career. His 2007 release, Cimarron Manifesto, topped the Americana Music Association album chart.

A month after his death, LaFave was inducted into the Oklahoma Music Hall of Fame.

[RELATED: Jimmy LaFave: The Night Tribe]

Jimmy LaFave Was Texas Born, Oklahoma Raised

Born July 12, 1955, in Wills Point, Texas, Jimmy LaFave first learned to play the drums. He switched to guitar at 15 after his mother used green stamps to purchase the instrument for him.

LaFave finished high school in Stillwater, Oklahoma, after his family moved there. He managed a music club and recorded a couple albums, but soon realized a move to Texas would mean a broader audience and more opportunities. So he headed to Austin in the 1980s.

Signing with Colorado-based Bohemia Beat Records, LaFave released his debut album, Austin Skyline, in 1992. He quickly became a fixture on the Austin City Limits scene, gaining nationwide exposure. In 1996, Woody Guthrie’s daughter, Nora, invited him to appear in Cleveland at the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame tribute to her father.

“He’s really crucial to red dirt music. He was the first guy to go to Austin and really plant the flag for Okies down there and for red dirt music, not to mention the career he has—a 40-year career of playing music all over the world,” KOSU’s John Cooper told The Oklahoman. “Everybody that followed really owes it to Jimmy. He was the first guy in the pool.

Featured image by Frans Schellekens/Redferns