Died On This Date (November 17, 2011) Joe Gracey / Austin Radio Legend
themusicsover Joe Gracey
DOB Unknown – November 17, 2011
Joe Gracey was an Austin, Texas radio disc jockey who, since the early ’70s, championed what was then called progressive country on KOKE-FM. Also referred to as alt country, Americana, outlaw country, redneck rock, or simply Texas music, this hybrid of country, blues, rock, and folk found its home outside the mainstream. And it was Gracey who helped make many of its practitioners – like Willie Nelson, Waylon Jennings, Kinky Friedman, Townes Van Zandt, Asleep at the Wheel, and Jerry Jeff Walker, household names throughout Texas and beyond. After being named “Radio Trendsetter of the Year” by Billboard magazine in 1974, Gracey helped launch the popular music program Austin City Limits and was the show’s first talent coordinator. He later opened his own recording studio where he recorded Stevie Ray Vaughan. In 1978, he married fellow Texas musician, Kimmie Rhodes for whom he also played and recorded. Other artists with which he collaborated were Willie Nelson, Ray Price, and Calvin Russell, to name a few. Joe Gracey died of cancer on November 17, 2011. He was 61.
Thanks to Harold Lepidus for the assist.
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