RIP Toni Price

[jimmyjazz 47097]

Any Austin music fan in the 90s knew of Toni's music, and many of you probably crossed paths with me at a random Tuesday "Hippie Hour" where she would throw down with Casper, Scrappy Jud, Rich and others.  She has passed away from complications related to a brain aneurysm.  Fair sailing, Toni, your lovely voice and songs brought a lot of happiness to so many people.

 

 

 

[Handcruser 2815]

She was great. RIP.

[G650 14436]

1 hour ago, jimmyjazz said:

Any Austin music fan in the 90s knew of Toni's music, and many of you probably crossed paths with me at a random Tuesday "Hippie Hour" where she would throw down with Casper, Scrappy Jud, Rich and others.  She has passed away from complications related to a brain aneurysm.  Fair sailing, Toni, your lovely voice and songs brought a lot of happiness to so many people.

 

 

 

Shit.

That's the same thing that happened to Laura Branigan actually.

[Deej 77787]

Damn. Lots of good memories of her Continental Club shows. 

[jimmyjazz 47097]

One of my favorite recording sessions I've ever worked on was when she and Champ Hood rolled into my little studio just south of Continental Club after a Hippie Hour, ostensibly to lay down some backing tracks on a record I was engineering.  They were buzzed, to put it kindly.  It took a while, but it was so much fun, as they were both charming and super talented.  I had never met either of them but they treated me like an old friend.  Smart, gifted, generous people.

[troph 25172]

Damn we were talking about going to see her play again just the other day. Came here to post. I revived her Midnight Pumpkin album about a month ago into the current music rotation at our house. She was really really good and to me the epitome of Austin music before it went corporate and national. I remember taking out of town guests to the Continental club and them always responding with “wow she’s amazing…” back then it seemed our best artists never really broke through but we’re still just fucking great. Hey day of Guy Forsyth, Toni, Bob Schneider, come to mind. Like the best kept secrets. 

[jimmyjazz 47097]

Toni, Champ, Scrappy Jud and Casper on Austin City Limits (Shelby Lynne up first, but hopefully the video launches ~ 29:00-ish):

 

[troph 25172]

Listening to tumbleweed right now. Such a great song. Yeah I know, that’s the way it always goes… oh, tumbleweed…

sigh…

Edited November 23 by troph

[TexasHooch 5193]

Whoa. Now that's a name I haven't heard in a long time.  RIP.

[troph 25172]

7 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

Toni, Champ, Scrappy Jud and Casper on Austin City Limits (Shelby Lynne up first, but hopefully the video launches ~ 29:00-ish):

 

There’s not a bad song on that album. 

[jimmyjazz 47097]

Troy Campbell (Loose Diamonds) posted this to his Facebook page.  Toni sounds absolutely lovely, and as natural as a singer can get.

 

[hullabelew 3730]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCsQwzFJ395/?igsh=c2tjOHdmaW0xZ2F6

 

[HenryJames 67314]

Singer Toni Price, a Mainstay on Austin Stages, Has Died: Austin Music Hall of Famer passes away following a brain aneurysm - Music - The Austin Chronicle

Juke Joint Madonna: The Real Toni Price - Music - The Austin Chronicle

[jimmyjazz 47097]

Quote

and stopped reading the paper when former staffer Ken Lieck's "Dancing About Architecture" column joked about her friends Kelly Willis and Buck Owens.

@HenryJames do you know what this reference is about?  I can't find it.  I played in a few bands with Ken, he's an interesting dude.  Very, very smart and very much encamped in left field.

[hullabelew 3730]

and stopped reading the paper when former staffer Ken Lieck's "Dancing About Architecture" column joked about her friends Kelly Willis and Buck Owens.

[mention=14]HenryJames[/mention] do you know what this reference is about?  I can't find it.  I played in a few bands with Ken, he's an interesting dude.  Very, very smart and very much encamped in left field.
Apparently, in fall of 95, he made some joke about Buck Owens. People complained. He wrote that Kelly got his joke which apparently want true. Toni wrote him a letter. I found the fallout, just not the so called joke.

I asked Kelly about it. She said, "I remember that. She got more angry than I did! I felt loved."

[hullabelew 3730]

Great post from Robyn. And check out her guitar player. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC4SrNQJNRS/?igsh=MWZ3dG54ZWVwODUzOQ==

[jimmyjazz 47097]

25 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Great post from Robyn. And check out her guitar player. https://www.instagram.com/reel/DC4SrNQJNRS/?igsh=MWZ3dG54ZWVwODUzOQ==

Rich's post from Facebook:

Quote

I can’t believe Toni’s gone. My heart is breaking. Things were going so nicely for her. We had a wonderful duo up and running between us; she loved doing our regular shows at The Devil’s Backbone Tavern; she’d found an old box of videotapes that I was digitizing for her daughter Amber to post on a YouTube channel; she was ready to start shooting videos of our shows for the channel; she was even looking into booking some festivals and getting out into the world. Then this. I’m in bits.

 

Toni Price was all about real music, and that was pretty much it. (Well, some Jack Daniels for a while, but that eased off after the pandemic.) It seemed that all she wanted was to move and be moved by real, true music. I tried to play my best for her and she seemed to appreciate it, which was a real honor. Her favorite thing was being up in front of a happy, smiling, appreciative crowd. She’d appreciate them right back, especially in the last couple of years that we played together. And now it’s done. I can’t believe it. My heart is breaking. I love you, Toni.

 

(Before I go, I want to give an enormous hug to Cindy White, who was Toni’s guardian angel for years. Fame and fortune are not mutually inclusive in our musical world, and Cindy took amazing care of Toni through ups and downs over the years. If you see Cindy, give her a hug for Toni and me.)

 

Edited November 27 by jimmyjazz

[hullabelew 3730]

Holy fuck. I'm in tears. I hope Robyn and Lunchmeat recorded some of those shows with Rich and Toni.

[jimmyjazz 47097]

1 hour ago, hullabelew said:

Holy fuck. I'm in tears. I hope Robyn and Lunchmeat recorded some of those shows with Rich and Toni.

What a crazy thing for Rich to say, but I get it:  "I tried to play my best for her".

I'm not sure I've ever been around a better musician.

[hullabelew 3730]

19 hours ago, jimmyjazz said:

What a crazy thing for Rich to say, but I get it:  "I tried to play my best for her".

I'm not sure I've ever been around a better musician.

Says a ton about humble he is and how much respect the had for Toni.  I've only talked to him a couple of times, but seemed to be extremely sincere and a great guy.  Our longest talk was him telling me the story about his cut up strat.  

[jimmyjazz 47097]

29 minutes ago, hullabelew said:

Says a ton about humble he is and how much respect the had for Toni.  I've only talked to him a couple of times, but seemed to be extremely sincere and a great guy.  Our longest talk was him telling me the story about his cut up strat.  

He's probably one of the few Austin musical luminaries who actually has a degree in music.  I've recorded one other who has a super high profile gig and that guy couldn't conceive a part.  I tried to chart it out for him in my admittedly pedestrian manner, and that didn't help much either.  Rich is the real deal, though.  And yes, humble but confident, and kind.

[Chopper 17430]

What a shame. She was great, should've been a big star.